‘Verity’ Opens to Solid $32 Million While ‘Digger’ Gets Crushed With $8 Million at Box Office

This week’s wide releases are getting very tepid reception from critics and audiences, but their box office outlooks are very different as Amazon MGM’s Colleen Hoover adaptation “Verity” is set to turn at least a modest theatrical profit while Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Digger” looks fated to become one of the biggest busts of the year. “Verity,” a $40 million thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is earning an estimated $32.6 million from 3,510 locations. From that launch point, the film should be able to get past the break-even point, but it is well shy of the $50 million opening of last year’s Sony-released Hoover hit “It Ends With Us.” Nor is “Verity” earning reception as strong as “It Ends With Us,” taking a C+ on CinemaScore and a 50% “Definite Recommend” score on PostTrak from an audience that is 78% female and 62% between the ages of 25-44. It’s an audience breakdown similar to Warner Bros.’ “Practical Magic 2,” which didn’t go far after its $30 million opening last weekend and is just now passing $100 million worldwide with $64.7 million domestic. “Verity,” which is leaving many moviegoers cold with its rug-pull ending, could be similarly frontloaded. Then there’s “Digger,” which carries a far greater budget of at least $125 million, with some reports putting it at around $160 million. Either way, it’s a terrible start for the Alejandro Inarritu-directed satire with a global opening weekend of just $20 million, and an unceremonious end to Warner Bros.’ 103-year run as it merges with Paramount Skydance this week. “Digger” has divided critics and audiences alike with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 51% critics and 70% audience, a C+ on CinemaScore and 47% “definite recommend” from PostTrak, the sort of scores that might be the makings of a cult film among cinephiles but are poison to a film’s efforts to attract the theatrical audience needed for a film of this budget level. And for Tom Cruise, who was pegged by awards prognosticators as a potential Oscar nominee, this is his worst opening weekend since the 2007 Robert Redford war drama “Lions for Lambs.” Despite that, Cruise expressed his pride in “Digger” on social media and his gratitude to the film’s cast and crew in a social media post on Saturday. “I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists. Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable and I’m so proud of what we created,” he wrote. More to come…