Box Office Shocker! 'Verity' Dominates While 'Digger' Tanks on Opening Weekend

The latest box office reports reveal a stark contrast in performance among new releases, with Warner Bros.' high-profile R-rated black comedy, "Digger," experiencing a significant commercial failure, while Amazon MGM's psycho-thriller "Verity" dominated the weekend. Despite an extensive promotional campaign featuring star Tom Cruise, "Digger" only managed to generate a meager $3.4 million from 3,321 North American theaters on its opening Friday. This performance, coupled with negative reviews and divided audience reception, positions the film as one of the year's biggest flops, with domestic opening weekend estimates hovering around $7.5 million.

The financial strain on "Digger" is particularly acute given its ballooned production budget, which escalated from an initial greenlit $125 million to an estimated $160 to $180 million due to extended production timelines. With studios typically splitting ticket sales with theater owners, "Digger" is projected to incur substantial losses during its theatrical run. Directed by Academy Award winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, the film stars Cruise as a powerful oil tycoon whose actions lead to an ecological catastrophe. Even Tom Cruise's considerable star power, recently evidenced by blockbusters like the "Mission: Impossible" franchise and "Top Gun: Maverick," couldn't salvage "Digger," marking another misfire for Warner Bros. this year, following other underwhelming releases such as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s punk rock "The Bride!" and DC’s comic book adaptation "Supergirl."

In stark contrast to "Digger's" struggles, Amazon MGM's "Verity" secured the top spot on Friday, grossing an impressive $15.1 million from 3,510 North American theaters. The film is projected to achieve a domestic total of $33.6 million through the weekend. Adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, "Verity" centers on acclaimed author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) who, after a debilitating car accident, requires her husband (Josh Hartnett) to hire a struggling writer (Dakota Johnson) to complete her remaining books. Directed by Michael Showalter, "Verity" marks Hoover's fourth novel to be adapted for the big screen, following "It Ends With Us" (Sony) in 2024, "Regretting You" (Paramount) in 2025, and "Reminders of Him" (Universal) in 2026.

Other films also made their mark at the box office. Zach Cregger’s zombie horror "Resident Evil" (Sony) landed in second place on Friday, earning $3.62 million. Starring Austin Abrams as a medical courier amidst a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City, the film is expected to add $12 million by Sunday, pushing its domestic cumulative total to $124.395 million.

Following "Digger's" third-place finish, Paramount Pictures’ adventure film "The Heart of the Beast" grossed $3.15 million, bringing its cumulative total to $38.39 million. The Brad Pitt-led movie, directed by David Ayer, depicts a retired veteran and his combat dog navigating a dangerous 58-mile trek to safety after a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness.

Rounding out the top five was A24’s "Primetime," which grossed $2.49 million on Friday and is projected to pull in an additional $7.5 million by Sunday. The film's opening weekend ranks as the third-best for A24, behind "Backrooms" ($81.4 million) and "Civil War" ($25.5 million). The Robert Pattinson-led drama has accumulated $28.58 million domestically so far. "Primetime" chronicles Chris Hansen’s tenure as the host of Dateline NBC’s "To Catch a Predator." Despite positive reviews and strong word of mouth since its Venice Film Festival debut, Hansen himself has expressed a less-than-favorable opinion of the film, describing it as "so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality," and "detached from reality," after viewing it.