Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Plunging at Box Office With Less Than $10M as ‘Verity’ Leads
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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.
More context
Timeline
- 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.
Why it matters
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.
Coverage notes
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.
Primary report
Industry box office tracking reports Digger opening under 10 million.
Sources
- The Atlantic
- Washington Post
- San Francisco Chronicle
- Time
- The Hollywood Reporter
- Deadline Hollywood
- Entertainment Weekly
- USA Today
- Associated Press
- Reuters
- Bloomberg
- Screen Rant
- Collider
- SlashFilm
- Chicago Tribune
- Dallas Morning News
- Sky News
- Forbes
- Financial Times
- People
- The Austin American-Statesman
- Miami Herald
- Seattle Times
- Houston Chronicle
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Sacramento Bee
- Detroit News
- Wall Street Journal
- Daily Mail
- The Sun
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- variety.com
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