‘Uncharted’ Tops ‘The Batman’ On VOD And Nears $400 Million Worldwide

Vudu is reporting that Sony’s Uncharted was tops on its sales charts over the weekend as it “finally” arrived on EST (priced-to-own) digital after a conventional 68-day theatrical window. The Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg actioner displaced The Batman at the top spot and is ruling all relevant VOD charts (iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, etc.) after already earning $146 million domestic (behind only Sonic and Sonic 2 among video game movies in North America) and $395 million global (behind only Rampage, Detective Pikachu and Warcraft worldwide) on a $120 million budget.

Sony bragged at CinemaCon about how they gave Spider-Man: No Way Home an old-school 88-day window and still saw records for an EST launch. Likewise, I think even new Warner Bros./Discovery boss David Zaslav gets that The Batman launched to strong HBO Max numbers precisely because it was a well-liked critical hit that earned $369 million domestic and $760 million worldwide.

Moreover, Turning Red earned 650 million minutes for Disney+ (so says Nielsen) in its third frame, falling below Enchanto (744 million minutes despite being available since Christmas Eve). The Pixar gem didn’t get a theatrical release, while the Walt Disney musical at least got a halfhearted 31-day theatrical window where it earned $255 million. Meanwhile, Illumination’s Sing 2 earned $400 million worldwide despite being concurrently available at home for most of its theatrical run.

I still maintain that A) a longer theatrical window and a less publicized streaming due date would have made Encanto a genuine theatrical hit and B) Turning Red could have notched the same level of eventual Disney+ viewership after a conventional theatrical run. The strong viewership for Free Guy and Shang-Chi shows that a successful theatrical run may help the eventual streaming viewership. At the very least, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Likewise, Michael Bay’s Ambulance debuting in second place after arriving on PVOD on Friday seems to suggest as much.

Yes, the well-reviewed actioner earned just $21 million domestic and $49 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. And no, I don’t know if PVOD revenues will be anywhere near enough to make up the difference in terms of both raw budget and marketing expenses. But the marketing offered for a global theatrical release makes it more of an event both during its theatrical release and during its streaming debut. Simply put, you can’t capitalize on “Hey, I meant to catch that in theaters and now it’s available to rent at home!” viewership for Death on the Nile or West Side Story if those films never had a theatrical release.

Yes, streaming is the future and no, theatrical is probably never going to return to its 1993-2013 blockbuster-centric peak. But there is still value in theatrical, both in terms of revenue earned in theaters by a box office success and in “this was in theaters” prestige and increased awareness for box office bombs when they arrive at home. It’s not a zero-sum game, but the companies that find a way to balance their theatrical portfolio and streaming goals will be much better off in the long run versus those who put all of their eggs in the streaming basket.