Not even a Tom Cruise-filled, all-out press tour — including a GQ cover, a “New Heights” podcast appearance and a “Risky Business”-inspired jaunt into the spiritual tunnel of the “Jennifer Hudson Show” — could keep “Digger” from stagnating at the box office.
Warner Bros.’ The R-rated dark comedy grossed $3.4 million Friday from 3,321 North American theaters following a slew of negative reviews and divided word of mouth. The film is shaping up to be one of the biggest failures of the year, with estimates of just $7.5 million domestically for its opening weekend. The film was greenlit at $125 million, but ended up climbing to $160 million and $180 million after a lengthy production run, according to informed sources. That’s a problem because the studio shares ticket sales with theater owners, meaning “Digger” is poised to lose several million upon its theatrical release.
Directed by Academy Award winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Digger” stars Cruise as a powerful oil tycoon whose company unleashes an ecological calamity. Despite Cruise’s enduring star power, having anchored recent blockbusters like the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and the 2022 sensation “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Digger” will end up as Warner Bros.’ latest misfire. This year, the studio siphoned off a series of duds, including Maggie Gyllenhaal’s punk rock “The Bride!” and the DC comic book adaptation “Supergirl.”
While mainstream audiences rejected “Digger,” Amazon MGM’s psychological thriller “Verity” took the top spot Friday with $15.1 million from 3,510 North American theaters. The film is expected to gross $33.6 million domestically over the weekend.
Adapted from the bestselling book of the same name by Colleen Hoover, “Verity” centers on famous author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who is seriously injured in a car accident, leaving her husband (Josh Hartnett) to hire a struggling writer (Dakota Johnson) to finish the remaining books. Michael Showalter directed. This is Hoover’s fourth novel to hit the big screen, following 2024’s “It Ends With Us” (Sony), 2025’s “Regretting You” (Paramount) and 2026’s “Reminders of Him” (Universal).
Zach Cregger’s zombie horror film “Resident Evil” landed in second place on Friday, grossing $3.62 million. Starring Austin Abrams as a medical courier who must deal with a zombie outbreak while making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital, the Sony film is expected to add $12 million by Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $124.395 million.
After “Digger” placed third, Paramount Pictures’ “The Heart of the Beast” followed with $3.15 million, bringing its cumulative gross to $38.39 million. The Brad Pitt-led adventure film was directed by David Ayer and stars the actor as a retired veteran who takes a 58-mile journey to safety after he and his fighting dog survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness.
Finally, in fifth place, was A24’s “Primetime.” The film grossed $2.49 million on Friday and is expected to gross another $7.5 million by Sunday. The film’s opening weekend ranked third for A24 behind “Backrooms” ($81.4 million) and “Civil War” ($25.5 million), and the Robert Pattinson-led drama has grossed $28.58 million domestically so far.
“Primetime” chronicles Chris Hansen’s time as host of Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator.” Although the film has received positive reviews and word of mouth since its debut at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, the real Hansen has been less than complimentary ahead of the film’s release; After seeing the film, Hansen called it “so bizarre and so outside of reality”, as well as “detached from reality”.
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