A Tom Cruise film directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu cost somewhere north of $160 million to make. Over its first weekend in North American cinemas, it took in about $8 million.
That is the story of “Digger,” the Warner Bros. black comedy that opened in 3,321 theaters. Box office tracker The Numbers lists it fifth for the weekend. Amazon MGM’s “Verity” took first place.
A costly miss
According to Deadline, the result is Cruise’s lowest opening in 19 years. Its Friday-to-Sunday split was $3.4 million, $2.6 million and $2 million. That included $1.2 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline.
Variety reported that the R-rated film met a run of negative reviews and divided word of mouth. It said the film was greenlit at $125 million. Sources told the trade the budget grew to between $160 million and $180 million after production ran long. Variety said this is a bigger problem because the studio shares ticket revenue with theater owners. It expects the film to lose many millions in its theatrical run.
Deadline also pointed to the film’s online reach. Its social media following across major platforms stood at 289.5 million before opening. That was 66% below “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and 28% behind “Top Gun: Maverick,” according to the outlet.
The timing is awkward for the studio. Deadline noted that Warner Bros. motion picture heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are leaving after new owner Paramount rejected their contracts. Deadline called it an “operatic weekend” for the studio.
“Verity” takes the top spot
“Verity,” a psychological thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s work, opened in 3,510 theaters. The Numbers puts its three-day gross at $32.6 million, a per-theater average of $9,293. Friday brought $15.1 million, including $4.5 million from previews. Saturday added $10 million and Sunday $7.5 million, according to Deadline.
Deadline said the audience skews toward women and the film is playing strongly on the coasts. They account for 48% of its gross, against a regional average of 40%. The paper named AMC Lincoln Square in New York as its best venue, with $76,600 through Saturday.
The wider weekend
Despite “Digger,” the market held up. Deadline said the weekend was heading toward a third straight $100 million-plus total, with Rentrak reporting $99 million. That is up 15% from a year ago. The comparison weekend was the debut of “Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” which opened to $34 million.
Deadline said the domestic total for the year stood at an estimated $7.95 billion. Rentrak expects it to pass $8 billion on October 9.
Elsewhere on the chart, “Primetime” was fourth, with $8 million in its second weekend. That was down 58%, and it has made $34.1 million so far. “Forgotten Island” followed with $7.2 million and a $23.6 million total, according to The Numbers.
Some of the figures are weekend estimates, and final studio numbers usually arrive on Monday. Variety’s early projections for “Digger” were slightly lower than the final estimate. Deadline noted that rival studios had put the opening at a high single-digit figure.
For Warner Bros., the larger question is how much of the film’s cost it can recover overseas and on home formats. None of the sources reviewed here gave international figures for “Digger.”