Sony Chief Tom Rothman Celebrates “New Hit Movie Franchise” As ‘Uncharted’ Hits Box Office Milestone

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Sony’s $106.4M global box office weekend for Uncharted was another reminder to a streaming-obsessed entertainment industry that the tried-and-true business model of theatrical features still works, and that there’s an audience for them.Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman underscored this in a company-wide email today following the success of the Ruben Fleischer directed, Tom Holland-Mark Wahlberg-starring movie this past weekend, and extolled staffers for delivering a blockbuster hit.Rather than sell the $120M production off out of financial desperation during the pandemic, Sony believed in the event movie, protected it and waited for the proper time to release it.The box office results from such actions?

Uncharted was suppose to do $30M over four days at the domestic box office; it wound up doing $51M, sending its current worldwide take to $139M.

Key words in Rothman’s note below, is that he’s already declared Uncharted “a new hit movie franchise.” When we spoke to Fleischer, he was hopeful about a sequel.While other studios have been going day-and-date with their movies or shaving down the theatrical window, Sony continues to protect the 45-day window on big event films such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Ghostbusters: Afterlife Uncharted, and since theaters reopened last year from Covid has grossed a huge $3 billion-plus at the global box office.Uncharted, as Rothman explains here, was the first major production shut down entirely by Covid.

Fleischer told us on Deadline’s Hero Nation podcast that Uncharted, from pre-production to post, took two years.Sony also had more bragging rights at the Presidents Day weekend B.O.