Director Alejandro Inarritu's satire "Digger" took in $8 million from 3,300 North American theaters, the softest opening of Tom Cruise's career since 2007.
By the numbers: Digger opened to $8 million domestically against a $125 million production budget, and added $12 million internationally. Warner Bros. had projected $12 million to $15 million heading into the weekend.
- Third-party trackers initially suggested an opening closer to $30 million weeks ago, but interest crumbled in the 10 days before release, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Zoom in: Audiences handed it a C+ CinemaScore, among the lowest grades of Cruise's career, and reviewers split at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. Cruise plays a balding, pot-bellied oil tycoon who learns he caused a natural disaster.
The big picture: This is the last Warner Bros. release before Paramount Skydance's $111 billion merger with the studio is expected to close on October 6. Film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are exiting, with Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein taking over.
- De Luca and Abdy's 2025 slate included Oscar winners One Battle After Another and Sinners. Reports put Digger's budget closer to $180 million, a figure a studio representative disputes.
The other side: Amazon MGM's Verity won the weekend with $32.6 million from 3,510 locations on a $40 million budget. Its audience skewed 78% female, and 38% of ticket buyers were 25 to 34.
What they're saying: "Verity's debut is another win for female-driven movies at the box office," Fandango analytics director Shawn Robbins told The Hollywood Reporter.
Why it matters: The weekend still grossed about $100 million domestically, up roughly 16% on the same frame last year, so the problem looks specific to star-driven original films: Cruise returns to franchise work next with Days of Thunder 2.
