Cruise's 'Digger' Stumbles to $1.2M as 'Verity' Thrills

Deadline reports Tom Cruise's 'Digger' took just $1.2M in previews while Colleen Hoover's 'Verity' earned $4.5M, setting up a lopsided weekend.

The weekend box office is shaping up as a tale of two very different openings. According to Deadline, Amazon MGM Studios' Colleen Hoover thriller Verity, starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett, grossed $4.5 million in previews that began Thursday at 2 p.m., right in line with expectations for what the outlet calls Hoover's second-most-popular novel-to-screen adaptation. Warner Bros. and Legendary's Tom Cruise satire Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, managed only $1.2 million in previews, and Deadline reports the film 'will be lucky to open to north of $10M' in North America against a reported net production budget of $125 million — with rumors cited suggesting the true cost runs $140–150 million.

A sub-$10M wide opening would rank among Cruise's lowest of the millennium, per Deadline, which lists prior low-water marks: Lions for Lambs ($6.7M in 2007), Rock of Ages ($14.4M in 2012), Jack Reacher ($15.2M) and American Made ($16.7M in 2017). Warners is leaning into the film's divisive reception — its 'Decide for yourself' final spot drew 2.2 million views — but the Rotten Tomatoes critical score sits at just 52%, which Deadline points out is still higher than The Mummy's 15%.

Deadline reports Verity's presales trail It Ends With Us' $50M opening but notes that film benefited from Lively–Baldoni buzz, and the outlet expects a $30M-plus domestic debut in 3,510 theaters with a potential $50–55M global start across 70 offshore territories. Critics have been unkind — Deadline says they 'have no patience' for Verity — yet audience scores on Hoover adaptations have run hot: Regretting You at 83% and It Ends With Us and Reminders of Him at 87% each. International sales are reportedly hot in Brazil, ahead of It Ends With Us.

Both films hold their fates in audience hands now, with Imax, Dolby Cinema and VistaVision tickets on sale for Digger. Deadline's outlook gives Digger $12–15M domestically at best — others say it is 'lucky to break $10M' — plus $15–20M from 73 foreign territories for a global start of at most $35M against that heavy budget and a marketing spend the outlet says is approaching $100M. The weekend should confirm whether controversy marketing can rescue a prestige satire.