Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Plunging at Box Office With Less Than $10M as ‘Verity’ Leads
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Tom Cruise’s $125 million film Digger is heading for an estimated $8 million opening in North America, well below its studio’s $12 million to $15 million forecast. The result would be Cruise’s weakest opening since 2007’s Lions for Lambs and raises questions about the commercial appeal of his move from franchise action films to a director-led satire.
The film earned $3.3 million on Friday, including previews, across 3,300 theatres and received a C+ CinemaScore. Verity is expected to lead the weekend with $33.6 million, while Resident Evil is projected to take second place with $12 million. Digger has divided critics, with a 51 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score; the article also notes wider changes at Warner Bros., including an expected merger and new studio leadership.
- Digger is projected to open with about $8 million.
- The $125 million film received a C+ audience score.
- Verity is forecast to lead with $33.6 million.
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Tom Cruise has established himself as one of Hollywood's most reliable box office draws, starring primarily in action films and franchises that have performed strongly with audiences. His films often feature elaborate stunts and established characters that studios know appeal to large numbers of cinemagoers.
Digger marks a departure from the type of films Cruise typically stars in. Rather than an action vehicle, it is a satire directed by a prominent independent filmmaker. This represents a shift towards more director-led, satirical storytelling rather than the franchise-based action content audiences usually associate with him.
Box office opening weekend figures are closely watched by the film industry as an initial measure of audience interest. They help studios understand which types of films and which stars can attract viewers, and inform decisions about future projects and investments.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Tom Cruise needed to evolve beyond action franchises, and working with a prestige director on an ambitious satire enriches both his legacy and cinema itself. Artistic risk-taking matters, and one weekend's box office performance shouldn't be the sole measure of a project's value. Even acclaimed films sometimes take time to find their audience, and the film deserves judgment on its artistic merits rather than opening-week numbers.
The case against
Cruise's career has been built on action franchises that consistently deliver at the box office, and audiences clearly want to see him in that role. A £125 million budget on a divisively reviewed satire was commercially reckless when the market has spoken unambiguously. Studios have fiduciary responsibilities to invest wisely, and resources should follow audience demand rather than be wagered on speculative prestige projects.
Full account
Tom Cruise’s Digger is heading for a difficult opening weekend in North America. The Alejandro G. Iñárritu satire took $3.3 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, and is projected to make about $8 million across 3,300 cinemas. That would fall below Warner Bros.’ forecast of $12 million to $15 million for a film reported to have cost $125 million to produce. The figures remain estimates until the weekend is complete. Meanwhile, Verity, Amazon MGM Studios’ adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, is expected to lead the domestic chart after taking $15.1 million on Friday, including previews. Its projected weekend total is around $33 million to $34 million from 3,510 locations.
In Digger, Cruise plays a balding, overweight oil tycoon whose actions cause an environmental disaster. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller also appear in the film. The role takes Cruise away from the action franchises that have dominated his recent work and recalls an earlier period in which he regularly worked on director-led dramas. Its reception so far suggests that the change has divided viewers and critics: audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore, while the reports put its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ approval rating at 51 per cent. Warner Bros. is said to hope that awards attention and word of mouth will help the film find an audience beyond its opening weekend, although neither is assured.
If the estimate holds, Digger will give Cruise his lowest opening weekend since Lions for Lambs took $6.7 million in 2007. The comparison has limits: that film had a much smaller budget. Cruise nevertheless remained publicly supportive of Digger on Saturday, posting photographs from the shoot and thanking its cast and crew. He described making the film as an unforgettable experience and said he was proud of their work. At a Los Angeles screening earlier in the week, he also spoke about wanting his films to succeed well enough to let him keep making them. He is expected to return to familiar action territory with a sequel to Days of Thunder.
The contrast between the two releases is pronounced, though both films received a C+ CinemaScore. Verity, directed by Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, appears set for first place despite that audience grade. Digger’s weaker start also arrives at a moment of change for Warner Bros. The first report links the release to an expected merger with Paramount Skydance and a forthcoming change in the studio’s film leadership. Those corporate developments provide context for the opening, but the box-office figures alone cannot establish why audiences chose one film over the other.
Where outlets differ
Both supplied reports are from The Hollywood Reporter, so they do not represent differing outlets. The first concentrates on weekend takings, Warner Bros.’ forecast and the studio’s circumstances; the second concentrates on Cruise’s public response and comments at a screening. Their Verity forecasts differ slightly: $33.6 million in the first report and approximately $33 million in the second.