Sony still plan to release Uncharted ahead of Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 - but why do they consider this such a priority? Sony's upcoming Uncharted movie has been a troubled production, with it being in the works for over a decade. When Uncharted was delayed again due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was some speculation this could be the final nail in the film's coffin. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Uncharted still seems to be a high priority for Sony, even more than other movies in development. The studio has recently adjusted release dates for 2021 as a result of the pandemic; they now intend to release Uncharted on July 16, and Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 on November 5. This clearly indicates they intend to prioritize production on Uncharted ahead of making the Spider-Man threequel, given both feature Tom Holland. It's hardly the choice most viewers expected.

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The key, however, is that a successful Uncharted movie would be an important asset to Sony going forward, especially as a top-of-the-line franchise with sequel potential. Over the last decade, the film industry has changed shape markedly, with franchises becoming increasingly dominant in the box office, and the rise of streaming services causing massive disruption to DVD and Blu-ray sales. Sony Pictures has often been wrong-footed by societal and technological change, and in 2017 they suffered a write down of 112.1 billion yen as a result. There has been frequent speculation Sony Pictures would be sold off by their parent company, but instead all signs are that Sony intend to remain in the film business. Fortunately, the last few years have seen them get back on their feet, with hits including the likes of Jumanji, the latest Spider-Man films, and Venom.

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If Sony is to remain successful, then they need to increase the number of strong franchises they possess. Hence Uncharted is, oddly enough, more of a priority than Spider-Man; the wall-crawler is as surefire a hit as anything can be in a post-coronavirus world, and Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 is just building on previous successes. Venom grossed over $850 million in the global box office as well, proving there's an appetite for the Spider-Man spinoffs; these are even more likely to succeed after Sony's renegotiation with Marvel, which appears to mean they can loosely connect them to the MCU. In contrast, should Sony be able to make a successful Uncharted movie, they would build a whole new film franchise. That could be especially valuable in 2021, where box office takings are impossible to predict because the coronavirus pandemic is sure to have driven further cultural changes.

Furthermore, given that Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now scheduled to release in June 2021 - a delay also caused by the coronavirus pandemic - Sony would likely want to avoid cannibalizing the sequel by releasing Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 just a few weeks later. This way, Sony still get a Tom Holland blockbuster movie in summer 2021 without competing with themselves by having that film be a Spider-Man movie.

On top of that, it's important to remember there's one striking difference between Uncharted and Spider-Man; it is entirely a Sony property. With Spider-Man, Sony share the profits and costs with Disney - they reportedly pay for and receive 75 percent, and Disney the remaining 25 percent. But, significantly, Disney own all the merchandise rights for Spider-Man, and those are incredibly valuable in the modern film market; Sony has admitted it made a mistake selling them back to Disney in 2011. Contrast this with Uncharted, where Sony receive 100 percent of the profits, potentially boost a video game series for their parent company, and own all the merchandise rights themselves. There's even the potential of trying to build a transmedia franchise, which could prove tremendously profitable. Thus, in purely strategic terms, Uncharted is a significant corporate priority to Sony right now - and they're prioritizing its production and release over Spider-Man: Homecoming 3.

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