'Uncharted' Doesn't Show up on Netflix, Despite Announcement

By Ashley Turner

With the news of various new changes coming to Netflix, including an ad-supported tier and efforts to discourage password sharing, an unceremonious scheduling change has many wondering about the streaming platform's long-term plans.

The official Netflix Twitter account announced about one month ago that the big-screen video game adaptation Uncharted would be arriving on the service on July 15. Sony's film, however, did not land on the popular streaming service by the scheduled date.

Rather, Uncharted will be coming to Netflix as of August 19, reports The Streamable. The action-adventure film opened in theaters on Feb. 18, 2022, and sold $401.75 million worldwide, including $148.65 domestically. Given that the film was released following the first surge of COVID-19 Omicron variants, those numbers are somewhat impressive for Sony in light of original expectations.

The studio has opted to allow its movies to completely wind down in theaters before arriving on Netflix; as part of last year's deal with Netflix, it will give them an extensive window on video-on-demand rental and purchase platforms before coming to the service.

Netflix's original plans for Uncharted may have also been hampered by the upcoming streaming premiere date of Spider-Man: No Way Home starring Holland as well. Netflix may not have wanted its Tom Holland-led blockbuster to compete with another, mainly since No Way Home will eventually move to Netflix, probably in 2023. At the moment, it is not clear whether Sony or Netflix caused this delay. 

If Sony delayed releasing Uncharted, financial reasons were most likely involved. It may have been to avoid conflict with No Way Home or to ride the recent surge in VOD rentals and purchases for Uncharted. Alternatively, if the streamer postponed the movie for a reason unrelated to Spider-Man, it may have to do with scheduling, potentially affecting numerous other films.

Uncharted will now release one week after the Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, and Dave Franco vampire movie Day Shift and one week before the Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, and Regina Hall comedy Me Time. Netflix's August date is unlikely to impact cross-promotion much, but the premiere of a summer crowd pleaser starring two A-list actors will likely bolster an otherwise weak lineup.

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