the movie (very normal) Unexploredwith tom holland in Nathan Drake, was it a box office hit? Will Marvel give wings to PlayStation Productions, before God of War and company ?
Between the announcement of the film adaptation of video game Unexplored and the film’s release in 2021, the world has had time to survive fifteen waves of the pandemic, a semi-trailer of Marvel movies, and many Caesar ceremonies. Released in 2008passed through the hands of seven directors and too many screenwriters to count, Unexplored he changed so much along the way that Mark Wahlberg was initially cast as Nathan Drake, before being cast as Sully.
Plus Unexplored The Hollywood version, starring Tom Spider-Man Holland as Nathan Drake, finally arrived in 2022. Evidently intended to launch a franchise, the Ruben Fleischer-directed film (zombie land, Poison) was expected in turn, particularly as Sony has operate their video game brands with PlayStation Studios.
Unexplored It was, therefore, the first full-size test, and the result is almost clear: there will be sequels, either to Uncharted, or to the Sony Cinematic Which Universe video game.
Uncharted sold?
With its two studio basements, its trip to the sea and its fifteen blue backgrounds, the film Unexplored Could it be really expensive? Not really. Officially: 120 million dollars, the minimum of the blockbuster. In front of the 200 million giants, like Fast and Furiousjamesbond, jurassic world and others Spidermanthis is a reasonable number.
Compared to other video game adaptations, $120 million is a pretty high budget, next to Sonic (90 million), tomb Raider (in the 100 million), Rampage (120-140 million), assassin’s Creed (125 million), Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (150 million), warcraft (160 million) or Prince of Persia (about 200 million). Maybe it was even a risk, as many of the adaptations were mid-budget, like Mortal Kombat (55 million), Monster hunter (60 million), or the whole saga demonic resident (40-60 million). In the action movie department with a guy, it’s also much more than need for speed (66 million), max payne (35 million), already with Mark Wahlberg, or Hitman (25 million).
To this production budget of 120 million is added the marketing budget. As usual, there is no information on this topic, even if Unexplored probably spent 50-70 million on promotion.
Estimated Total Balance: probably in the 200 million range, all inclusive.
Meet Parker the heights of the box office.
drake’s fortune
Unexplored the film earned nearly $360 million at the worldwide box office. A priori, it is in the nails. That’s a lot less than other video game adaptations like warcraft (438 million), detective pikachu (431 million) and Rampage (427 million), but that is more than Prince of Persia (336 million), Sonic (304 million), tomb Raider (273 million), assassin’s Creed (240 million), or need for speed (194 million).
Obviously, this is a (very) modest sum compared to the heavyweights. dying can wait (774 million), fast and furious 9 (726 million), poison 2 (502 million) or Godzilla vs. Kong (468 million), not to mention the giant Spider-Man: No Way Home (1.8 billion) with Tom Holland.
At the locker by the back door
Plus Unexplored holds its own against other comparable adventure films, including benjamin doors (about 350 million), before its sequel (almost 460 million). Another story of men and sand: The Mummy. The trilogy with Brendan Fraser surpassed 443 million with the second film, when the version with Tom Cruise did not even reach 410 million.
Even compared to the extremes, Unexplored remains an honorable medium, far from the star Indiana Jones (more than 790 million with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), but well above counteractions such as Sahara with Matthew McConaughey (not even 120 million), or Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – Cradle of Life (160 million).
the mummy friend
globetrotter
In detail, where Unexplored win the jackpot in the world? First on the American side, with more than 133 million at the domestic box office. Unexplored It has therefore targeted the territory that Hollywood studios like to seduce, since it is where they recover the most income. Compare, The Mummy Tom Cruise settled for 80 million, when warcraft and assassin’s Creed they had been domestic failures (and not only) with fewer scores around 50 million.
Elsewhere, Unexplored didn’t necessarily shine, Covid or not. The film was particularly successful in the UK ($30 million), France ($17 million), and China ($10 million).
The neon dilemma
This is where it’s fun to compare to video game sales. Unexploredas Nathan Drake has been particularly popular in the UK. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Illusion had started from god fire, to become the 11th biggest launch of a PS3 game in this territory, according to mcvuk.
However, little disappointment in Japan. The games had settled over the episodes to become huge hits, but the film only made $1 million at the box office; be it a score similar to the film Sonic. Would this public be more cautious and demanding? No, since she kissed full on the mouth detective pikachu (27 million) and Paul WS Anderson, either with demonic resident (36 million for Final chapter) Where Monster hunter (over 11 million).
video game over
Unexplored it was therefore a success, perhaps modest, but a success nonetheless. It only remains to wait for the announcements about the rest of the operations. Because the rest will come, it’s just a matter of time. On the heels of the strong box office start, Sony boss Tom Rothman announced the color, as quoted on Deadline :
“With over 100 million at the worldwide box office in just one weekend and a 90% positive rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, Uncharted is a successful new franchise for the company. […] […) Dans la foulée de Venom : Let There Be Carnage, S.O.S. Fantômes : l’Héritage, et Spider-Man : No Way Home, Uncharted est un nouveau coup pour les opposants à la sortie salles, et une nouvelle preuve de l’efficacité de notre modèle.”
Une célébration parfaite pour le business, qui intronisait Tom Holland comme nouvelle égérie du studio, en plus d’ajouter une corde à l’arc des comptables.
C’est ça qu’on veut dans un film Uncharted bordel
Mais le vrai sujet est PlayStation Productions, fondé en 2019. Leur premier film, Uncharted, a été une réussite d’autant plus remarquable que le business du jeu vidéo au cinéma reste périlleux. Certes, Capcom avait remporté la mise avec une saga Resident Evil qui a rapporté plus de 1,2 milliard au box-office. Mais les véritables franchises tirées de jeux vidéo sont plus que rares. Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill : tous ont eu droit à un coup de frein avec les suites, en ayant en plus eu la possibilité d’avoir une suite.
La question des collaborations entre studios de cinéma et studios de jeux vidéo est centrale ; et c’est probablement pour ça que Sony/PlayStation ont une force de frappe et de maîtrise spectaculaire.
Ubisoft s’était royalement planté avec le film Assassin’s Creed, malgré une équation en or à l’affiche (Michael Fassbender, le réalisateur Justin Kurzel, Marion Cotillard) et des moyens considérables. Pourquoi ? Peut-être que c’était avant tout une manœuvre cynique. Le chef de la division européenne d’Ubisoft, Alain Corre, décrivait le film comme “une arme marketing qui va bénéficier à l’image de la marque”, assumant que les bénéfices seraient forcément maigres en salles. Depuis, la marque a migré vers Netflix, où l’univers devrait être exploité à fond.
Assassiner l’Assassin
Warcraft a été un autre cas d’école : un film tiraillé entre les exigences, demandes et contraintes de Blizzard, Legendary, Universal et leurs partenaires chinois. Le réalisateur Duncan Jones était le premier à soupirer en faisant le bilan à l’époque :
“Warcraft a été fait dans des circonstances uniques, impossibles à contourner. Trop de gens qui avaient un avis, simplement parce que c’est la nature de Warcraft. Blizzard est une entreprise qui fait un milliard chaque année juste avec ses jeux. Le film ne représentait rien pour eux. Ce n’était vraiment pas leur priorité. Ils payent leurs employés avec les jeux, pas avec le film. Donc pour eux, le film devait servir le jeu, en opposition à des jeux et un film qui seraient deux choses séparées.”
Le passage de flambeau entre les jeux vidéo et les écrans de cinéma est une mission presque impossible, du moins dans de bonnes conditions. Et il n’y a qu’à repenser au projet de film Halo, enterré à cause des exigences de Microsoft avant de renaître sous forme de série, pour s’en souvenir.
Warcraft : le non-commencement
L’UNIVErs étendu PLAYSTATION
Fin 2020, Tony Vinciquerra, boss de Sony Pictures, parlait de trois films et sept séries en développement côté PlayStation. Le film Uncharted, le film Ghost of Tsushima (annoncé en 2021), le film Jak and Daxter (annoncé en 2022, avec le réalisateur d’Uncharted) : le compte est bon côté cinéma.
Côté série, pas encore : The Last of Us attendue sur HBO, Twisted Metal sur Peacock, et God of War annoncé pour Amazon. Il y aurait donc quatre autres projets à dévoiler.
Who will be the next? In view of the PlayStation Productions animated logo, released with the film Unexplored : Aloy in a blockbuster horizon zero dawn ? sackboy’s little big planet in a children’s series? No doubt the series The last of us will serve as a second large-scale test, after Unexplored to the movies. And that, if successful, the kingdom of PlayStation will sweep all screens forever.