“Uncharted” is looking to climb to the top of the domestic box office in its opening weekend. Ruben Fleischer’s adventure film is projected to earn $45 million over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend — a tally that would notch it as the biggest theatrical opening of 2022 so far.
Sony Pictures’ “Uncharted” earned $15.4 million on Friday from 4,275 locations, setting itself up for a No. 1 debut. The Tom Holland vehicle marks the box office’s biggest opening since the actor’s last film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which dominated the holiday season to become the third highest-grossing domestic film release in history.
After anchoring a Marvel trilogy, “Uncharted” is seen as a test of Holland’s box office appeal outside of spandex. The film marks his first starring role in a non-Marvel blockbuster, apart from last spring’s “Chaos Walking,” which sat on Lionsgate’s shelf for years and hardly made any noise in the middle of a pandemic. A $45 million four-day gross would be a more-than-healthy indicator of Holland’s bankability, though “Uncharted” will still rely on overseas grosses to recoup its $120 million production budget.
Directed by “Zombieland” duology helmer Ruben Fleischer, “Uncharted” stars Holland as treasure hunter Nathan Drake. The rest of the cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali and Antonio Banderas. They get up to some antics on the way. The film has been met with largely negative reviews from critics, turning in a 39% score on the critical aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences have been more receptive; the film scored a “B+” CinemaScore rating, indicating general approval from ticket buyers. Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman was somewhat forgiving, calling it “a lively but thinly scripted and overlong mad-dash caper movie, propelled by actors you wish, after a while, had more interesting things to say and do.”
Channing Tatum’s “Dog” might be sniffing “Uncharted’s” tail, but it’s still putting up a healthy domestic debut. The film took in $5.044 million on Friday from 3,677 locations, putting it on the path to a second place opening at the box office. “Dog” represents Tatum’s first time anchoring a wide release since 2017’s ensemble comedy “Logan Lucky.” After some years away from the spotlight, the actor’s appeal has endured. That should be good news for Paramount’s “The Lost City,” which stars Tatum and Sandra Bullock and releases in March.
“Dog” comes from Metro Goldwyn Mayer in association with FilmNation Entertainment and serves as the feature directorial debut for Tatum and his longtime producing partner Reid Carolin. The movie follows retired Army Ranger Briggs (Tatum) and Lulu (a dog) on a road trip to a military funeral. They get up to some antics on the way.
What’s ranking behind “Dog” at the box office? Even more Tom Holland. Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” should secure third in its umpteenth weekend, with Sony projecting a $9.1 million gross over the holiday weekend. The film should expand its domestic gross past $770 million before Tuesday. The film has already surpassed “Avatar” ($760 million) as the third-highest grossing domestic release in history. The silver medal held by “Avengers: Endgame” ($858 million) is essentially out of reach, but the consistent trickle of additional grosses are just gravy at this point for Sony after a monster two-month run.
Disney and 20th Century Studios’ “Death on the Nile” should drop to fourth in its second weekend of release. The whodunit took in $1.7 million on Friday, representing a 65% drop from its opening day last week. The film should expand its domestic gross past $26 million over the holiday weekend — a pretty meager sum considering the film’s reported $90 million production budget.
Rounding out the top five is Paramount Pictures’ “Jackass Forever” with a projected $6.15 million gross for the holiday weekend. The slapstick docucomedy will be pushing a $50 million domestic cume by Tuesday, which far outweighs its modest $10 million production budget.