“Verity” opened a wide lead over “Digger” at the North American box office Friday, setting up a sharp opening-weekend contrast between a best-selling-book adaptation and an expensive original film built around one of Hollywood’s most durable stars.
Amazon MGM’s psychological thriller earned an estimated $15.1 million on Friday, including previews, while Warner Bros.’ “Digger” collected $3.4 million. The figures appear in both The Numbers’ daily chart and Box Office Mojo’s October tally. “Verity” played in 3,510 theaters, compared with 3,321 for “Digger,” so the gap cannot be explained simply by screen count.
Those Friday estimates put “Verity” on course for roughly $33 million to $34 million through Sunday. “Digger,” by contrast, was tracking toward about $7.5 million to $8 million. TheWrap’s Saturday analysis placed the respective forecasts at $33 million and $7.5 million, while The Numbers projected $33.6 million and about $8 million. The weekend totals remain projections and can shift when studios report final results Monday.
The per-theater figures sharpen that contrast. The Numbers calculated a Friday average of $4,303 for “Verity” and $1,024 for “Digger.” Those averages cover one day, include preview revenue and do not measure occupancy directly, but they help control for the modest difference in theater count. “Digger” also finished behind the second Friday of “Resident Evil,” which earned about $3.6 million, according to both box-office datasets. That left the new Cruise film in third place for the day even though it opened on more than 3,300 screens.
A costly gap
The weak start carries unusual weight for “Digger” because of its reported cost. The Numbers lists a $125 million production budget, and TheWrap describes the film as costing at least $125 million. Marketing expenses are separate, and studios generally do not disclose complete profit-and-loss statements for individual releases. Still, an opening below $10 million would leave the film dependent on a long theatrical run, international receipts and later home-entertainment revenue to narrow a large gap between cost and domestic ticket sales.
If the projection holds, TheWrap reported, “Digger” would mark Cruise’s lowest opening weekend since “Lions for Lambs” in 2007. That comparison is notable because Cruise’s recent career has been closely associated with large-format action films and durable theatrical runs. It does not, by itself, determine the final financial outcome: ticket sales can behave differently abroad, and prestige releases sometimes gain attention later in awards season. But the first weekend establishes a difficult starting point.
“Digger” is also a markedly different proposition from the franchises most closely associated with Cruise. The film’s official site describes it as an original story from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, with Cruise playing a powerful man trying to stop a disaster he unleashed. Warner Bros. and Legendary released it in conventional theaters and IMAX, and the supporting cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.
Familiar source material, clearer audience
“Verity” arrived with a different kind of built-in recognition. The studio’s official overview identifies the film as an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling psychological thriller, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Johnson plays a struggling writer hired to finish the books of an injured author, played by Hathaway, before discovering a disturbing manuscript at the author’s home.
The opening does not prove that adaptations will always outperform original films, nor does one weekend establish a lasting audience preference. Release timing, reviews, marketing, genre and word of mouth all matter. What the numbers show more narrowly is that “Verity” converted its literary awareness and star ensemble into much stronger immediate demand than “Digger” converted Cruise’s name, Iñárritu’s reputation and premium-format availability.
For Amazon MGM, the result also lands amid an explicitly stated push for more theatrical releases. In an official CinemaCon slate announcement, the studio said it planned to release at least 15 films a year in theaters and listed “Verity” among its 2026 titles. A $33 million-plus debut would give that strategy a visible fall-season win, though the film’s staying power will depend on audience reaction beyond its opening fan base.
What the weekend can—and cannot—show
Opening-weekend coverage can overstate finality. Friday grosses include Thursday previews, estimates can be revised, and domestic box office is only one revenue stream. “Digger” may perform differently overseas, where Cruise has long been a major draw, while “Verity” will need to hold against normal second-weekend erosion. Neither early total reveals how revenue will be divided among exhibitors, distributors and other participants.
Even with those limits, the scale of the separation is consequential. “Verity” earned more than four times “Digger’s” Friday gross while playing in only about 6 percent more theaters. The result gives Amazon MGM the weekend’s clear leader and leaves Warner Bros. facing a steep recovery challenge for a costly, filmmaker-driven original.
Final weekend estimates are expected Sunday, followed by studio-reported actuals Monday. Those numbers will refine the margins, but Friday’s outcome has already defined the weekend: a literary thriller found a broad opening audience, while a high-profile original struggled to turn pedigree and scale into ticket sales.
