Uncharted posts the best opening of the year so far, and audiences also happily called for Dog.
Given how ubiquitous Tom Holland has seemed to be since he first swung into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, it's rather startling to realize that before this week, he's only been the lead in one live-action, non-Spider-Man movie that got a wide theatrical release in North America. That was last March's sci-fi flop Chaos Walking, which could, to some extent, blame the pandemic for its failure, though it likely would have done terribly no matter when it opened. Luckily, Holland's next non-Spidey movie did not suffer the same fate.
Uncharted exceeded optimistic expectations by opening to $44 million over the weekend, with an additional $7.3 million coming in on President's Day Monday. This easily tops Scream's opening to become the biggest opening of 2022 so far, and the biggest opening since Spider-Man: No Way Home. It's also the biggest opening of any movie that did not feature Holland in red and blue spandex since Eternals in November, and the biggest non-MCU opening since Halloween Kills in October. In terms of movies that are not part of film franchises (at least when they opened), it is the best opening in almost exactly two years, since Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020. While Holland doesn't deserve all the credit (it is based on a popular video game series, and does co-star Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas), he's the one front and center in the movie's marketing, so he probably should get the lion's share. Assuming word of mouth is even a little bit better than the dismissive critical response, Uncharted should be either the first or second 2022 movie (depending on how well The Batman opens in two weeks) to hit $100 million.
A decade ago, Channing Tatum could seemingly do no wrong, as his presence made such disparate films as The Vow, 21 Jump Street, and Magic Mike into huge blockbusters. Then, he hit a cool streak, decided to start doing less commercial movies, and then more or less dropped out altogether. His latest, Dog, is his first starring role in a live-action movie since Logan Lucky nearly 5 years ago. The dramady, which he co-directed with longtime collaborator Reid Carolin (who wrote the screenplay) also exceeded expectations, opening to $14.9 million from Friday to Sunday, and another $4.2 million on Monday. This one looks like it's heading north of $50 million.
Holland's other movie in wide release, a little underseen art-house project called Spider-Man: No Way Home, led the holdovers, taking in $7.5 million in its tenth weekend. Having passed Avatar for #3 all-time during the course of last week, the superhero saga now stands at $770.4 million, and while $800 million is still a long way away, if grosses remain consistent, it might actually get there.
In fourth, Death on the Nile actually held up pretty decently, falling less than 50% to $6.6 million, for a ten-day total of $25.3 million. That's actually a better hold than Murder on the Orient Express's was, but that film also started from a much higher opening gross. If Kenneth Branagh is interested in making another Herclue Poirot film, he might want to call Holland and Tatum's agents and see if they'd be interested in being suspects.
Jackass Forever continues to be a low-budget success, grossing another $5.2 million for a total of $46.8 million. This looks to be heading to between $60 and $70 million.
Audiences are turning down the proposal from Marry Me, as the romcom slipped over 50% from Valentine's Day weekend to $3.7 million. The film's 10-day total stands at $16.8 million, and seems likely to end up as Jennifer Lopez's lowest-grossing wide-release vehicle since (shudder) Gigli.
Long-running sequels Sing 2 and Scream hit 7 and 8 this week, with Sing taking in $2.9 million for a total of $147.4 million, and Scream scaring up $2 million for a total of $77 million.
In ninth is the latest art-house horror film, the period werewolf thriller The Cursed. Given that it was outgrossed by the 6-week-old Scream, the film was cursed indeed. It opened to $1.8 million.
Rounding out the Top 10, and being the first movie in tenth place for the weekend to top $1 million since New Year's weekend, the Liam Neeson thriller Blacklight brought in $1.7 million. Its ten-day gross stands at $7 million.
Outside the Top Ten, Oscar nominees expanding include The Worst Person in the World, Encanto, West Side Story, and Drive My Car.
Only one new film opens wide this weekend. the horror comedy Studio 666. The film stars Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters, playing themselves, as they discover the mansion where they're recording their new album is haunted. The film co-stars Jenna Ortega (in her second horror movie of the year, after Scream), Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, and Jeff Garlin. If it's decent, it could be a future cult hit, but it is unlikely to challenge Uncharted for #1. Also opening in more limited release, and perhaps popping up in the bottom half of next weekend's Top Ten, are the Bollywood movies Bheemla Nayak and Gangbui Kathiawadi, as well as the belated release of Cyrano, a musical adaption of the classic romantic play, with Peter Dinklage, substituting his height for the character's usual enormous nose, in the title role. While Uncharted is almost certain to repeat, could Studio 666 open well enough to challenge Dog for second? We'll find out next week.
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