'Verity' Opens Strong as 'Digger' Becomes a Colossal Box Office Disaster

Amazon MGM's thriller «Verity» dominated the global box office this weekend, opening to a strong $61.8 million worldwide, while Warner Bros.' big-budget drama «Digger» suffered a catastrophic collapse, earning just $20 million globally against a production budget of $160-$180 million. The contrasting debuts painted a stark picture of an October weekend that saw one film capitalize on star power and genre appeal, and another become one of the year's most expensive failures.

«Verity» pulled in $32 million domestically from 3,510 theaters, a solid start for the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's popular novel. The film, which stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, benefited from strong marketing that emphasized its thriller elements. According to Amazon MGM, 79% of the audience was female, with 38% falling into the 25-34 age bracket. The opening marks Hathaway's fourth consecutive $20 million-plus debut, a notable streak for the actress. However, audience reception was less encouraging: the film received a «C+» CinemaScore, the worst for any Hoover adaptation, and holds a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the poor word-of-mouth, the film's $40 million budget means it remains a financial win for the studio, with a domestic total expected to reach around $75 million.

In contrast, «Digger» was a full-scale disaster. The film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise, managed only $8 million from 3,321 theaters domestically. That ranks as Cruise's worst debut since «Lions for Lambs» in 2007 and his least-attended film since «All the Right Moves» in 1983, adjusted for inflation. The film was initially greenlit at $125 million, but production issues inflated the budget to $160-$180 million. With high ticket prices and an IMAX push, theaters were nearly empty. The premise—an aging oil magnate trying to save the world from a disaster he created—failed to connect with Cruise's usual action-oriented fanbase. Iñárritu's previous film, «Bardo», also received polarizing reactions, and «Digger» shared more DNA with that than with his commercial hits like «The Revenant».

Elsewhere in the top five, «Resident Evil» held second place with $12.6 million, a 45% drop, bringing its domestic total to $125 million. «Heart of the Beast» stayed third with $10.8 million, down 46%, for a ten-day total of $38.2 million. The overall top 10 earned a combined $91.2 million, up 23.1% from the same weekend last year. The weekend also saw «Avengers: Endgame» reclaim its title as the highest-grossing film of all time, reaching $2.925 billion worldwide and passing «Avatar» once again. The back-and-forth between the two films has become a recurring box office storyline, with re-releases and international expansions shifting the record.

For Warner Bros., «Digger» marks a painful end to its era as a separate entity, as the studio completes its merger. The failure raises questions about star-driven original projects in an increasingly franchise-dominated market. Cruise remains one of the most bankable actors in history, with $14 billion in worldwide receipts, but «Digger» suggests that audiences are unwilling to follow him outside his established action wheelhouse. The film's poor performance will likely result in significant financial losses for the studio, and it serves as a cautionary tale about budget discipline and audience expectations.

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Derek Weston

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Derek Weston covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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