ENTERTAINMENT

Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Plunging at Box Office With Less Than $10M as ‘Verity’ Leads

PUBLISHED Oct 4, 2026, 7:37 AM ET

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Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Plunging at Box Office With Less Than $10M as ‘Verity’ Leads

Media Bias Meter

Sources: 33

Left 12%

Center 76%

Right 12%

Sources: 33

Warner Bros high-profile release Digger faces a disastrous domestic opening weekend, tracking for a debut of roughly 7.5 million to 10 million dollars. This represents actor Tom Cruise's lowest domestic opening weekend in 19 years, falling behind his 2007 film Lions for Lambs. With a production budget reported between 125 million and 160 million dollars, the film struggles as a major box office bomb. The feature received mixed critical reception, holding a 51 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a weak C plus CinemaScore from audiences. Meanwhile, the thriller adaptation Verity, starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, dominates the domestic box office charts. Verity secured an opening weekend between 32 million and 33 million dollars, easily outpacing competitor Digger and comfortably outperforming industry expectations to lead weekend box office ticket sales decisively.

By Noormahi M. | JQJO News

Timeline of Events

On October 4, 2007 (10:00 AM) Lions for Lambs held Cruise's previous low opening benchmark.
On November 11, 2007 (12:00 PM) Lions for Lambs debuted with 6.7 million domestic dollars.
On May 27, 2022 (11:00 PM) Top Gun Maverick grossed massive historical box office numbers.
On January 15, 2026 (9:00 AM) Warner Bros scheduled Digger for wide theatrical release windows.
On May 10, 2026 (2:00 PM) early tracking suggested soft audience awareness for Digger previews.
On October 2, 2026 (6:00 PM) Digger opened in North American cinemas with preview screenings.
On October 3, 2026 (8:00 PM) box office estimates confirmed a weak 3.4 million Friday.
On October 4, 2026 (10:00 AM) weekend projections scaled down Digger to under 10 million.
On October 4, 2026 (12:00 PM) Verity claimed the weekend box office leadership position easily.
On October 4, 2026 (4:30 PM) industry analysts evaluated long term studio losses for Digger.
On October 11 2026 Industry analysts expect Digger to exit domestic theaters quickly following poor returns.
On November 1 2026 Studio executives anticipate significant financial write downs for Warner Bros due to Digger.

News Intelligence

Immediate US impact: Warner Bros faces significant financial losses from underperforming theatrical releases.
Possible long-term US impact: Studios will reevaluate large franchise budgets and star driven project viability.
Most affected groups: Major film studios, theater owners, investors, and entertainment industry workers.
Reader priority: Track reliable trade publications for verified box office gross updates.

Media Bias

Articles Published:: 33
Right Leaning:: 4
Left Leaning:: 4
Neutral:: 25
Distribution:: Left 12%, Center 76%, Right 12%

Explain Framing

Left: Emphasizes corporate studio missteps and changing consumer movie preferences. Center: Reports box office statistics neutrally without drawing broad cultural conclusions. Right: Focuses on star power limitations and market driven ticket sales.