SATURDAY AM: Refresh for chart and more analysis Warner Bros’ very original, very expensive auteur feature, Digger, is filing an $8M opening, which is still the lowest Tom Cruise has seen since 2007’s much cheaper Lions for Lambs at $6.7M. In hindsight, Amazon MGM Studios was bold to date on top of a big budget Cruise movie with the big screen take of Colleen Hoover’s Verity, but they caught wind from early on that the Alejandro G. Iñárritu directed Digger wouldn’t be a tycoon at the B.O. Verity is posting the second best opening for a Hoover novel on the big screen now at $33.6M after a better than expected Friday of $15.1M.

Here’s a coincidence both films get a C+ CinemaScore. That’s the worst Hoover has received so far, her It Ends With Us landed an A-, while Reminders of Him and Regretting You received Bs. Typically female book adaptations file in the B-range as fans of the novel are quite critical of the theatrical take. Should Verity be concerned about buckling due to that CinemaScore? Nah, Fifty Shades of Grey filed a C+ and it was alright. The 79% female turnout here for the Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett thriller stands at a 50% definite recommend.

On the bright side for Digger, frankly, we though it would be worst in the Mother! (F) or Eyes Wide Shut (D-) vicinity. Cruise’s indiosyncratic turn as a charismatic self-help guru in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 Magnolia (which earned Cruise a Best Supporting Oscar nom) earned a C- CinemaScore. Interestingly enough, Digger‘s RT audience score of 71% is the same as Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid (71%), which was another divisive film made for $50M (considered wildly expensive for the arthouse auteur, though next to Digger‘s $160M+ production cost, a very thrifty spend).

What few went to Digger? Iñárritu has said that he made the movie for the Gen Z generation (who would have though), and the little who bought tickets were 60% between 18-34. Largely overall male at 73%. Overall definite recommend is low at 47%. Imax and PLFs for this VistaVision shot movie are contributing close to half of the gross. No surprise, this movie is playing strictly on the coasts which are repping 48% of the gross versus the regions’ average of 40%. AMC Lincoln Square counts the best sum for this artistic disaster at $45K.

Verity is playing everywhere including the South, East, South Central and Midwest. PLFs are repping 28% of the weekend sans Imax. Adam Aron can be happy that AMC Lincoln Square is the pic’s top grossing venue with more than $36K through Friday.

Despite the pothole of Digger, the overall weekend is looking great with the third straight $100M+ weekend so far this fall with an estimated $101.3M, +25% from a year ago when Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl opened to $34M.

FRIDAY PM: It’s an operatic weekend for Warner Bros not just with their motion picture heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy leaving as their contracts were rejected by new owner Paramount, but with their audacious $160M+ Tom Cruise starring, Alejandro G. Iñárritu Digger unearthing the former’s lowest opening in 19 years with $10M at 3,321 theaters. It’s an unfortunate note to end on after the duo’s revitalized slate of A Minecraft Movie, Weapons, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Dune 2, Sinners, and multi and Best Picture Oscar winner, One Battle After Another.

The last time Cruise had a low opening like this at the North American box office was 2007 with the Robert Redford directed drama Lions for Lambs at $6.7M, that pic costing significantly less at the time with a reported production cost of $35M. Today, including last night’s previews of $1.2M, Digger is eyeing $4M. Note that rivals have Digger much lower with a high single digit opening. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score is better than its critics score at 71% to 51% Rotten.

Prevailing is Amazon MGM Studio’s Collen Hoover suspense for women, Verity, with a $14.5M Friday, inclusive of $4.5M previews, for what’s shaping up to be a $32M start, if not more at 3,510 sites. No RT audience score yet.

Sony’s third weekend of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is estimated around $11.5M in 2nd place, -50%, after a third Friday around $3.5M at 3,510 sites. Running cume by Sunday is $123.8M.

Paramount’s second weekend of its Brad Pitt green beret-with-a-dog survival movie, The Heart of the Beast is holding very well at $10.3M at 3,481 locations, -49%, for a ten-day cume by Sunday of $37.6M. Then puts Digger in fourth.

Fifth goes to A24’s second weekend of Primetime at around $7.6M at 2,894 theaters, -60%, steeper than anticipated. Pic is posting a $2.2M second Friday. Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s edgy romance pic The Drama, held better -40% in weekend 2. Ten-day cume by Sunday is $32.7M.

The second weekend of Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island at 3,555 theaters is $6.5M, -50%, after a second Friday of $1.6M and a running cume of $22.9M.

Disney/Marvel Studio’s Avengers Endgame: Encore is looking at an estimated second frame of $6M, -81%, which is clearly very front-loaded for the re-release. Second Friday is around $1.5M with a running cume by Sunday at $37.8M and a lifetime of $896.1M stateside.

FRIDAY AM: Amazon MGM Studios’ Colleen Hoover thriller Verity grossed $4.5M in its overall previews, which is right where it should for arguably the author’s second-most-popular novel-to-screen adaptation. That figure is lower than the $7M previews of the author’s box office megahit It Ends with Us ($50M opening) and it’s ahead of the $1.9M preview cash of her Reminders of Him from earlier this year ($17.9M).

Hoover’s Regretting You last fall, which Paramount released, didn’t report preview figures from 500 screens. The weekend outlook for the Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett movie is $30M+. Previews for the R-rated Verity began yesterday at 2PM and also include early access shows.

RELATED: ‘Verity’ Review: Dakota Johnson And Anne Hathaway Play Authors In Psychological Thriller, But Are They Really Alter Egos For Colleen Hoover?

Critics have no patience for Verity, but they didn’t have patience for 2024’s It Ends with Us (55% Rotten) or the most recent Hoover adaptations Reminders of Him (56%) or Regretting You (29%). Audience scores, driven by women, on Hoover pics outshine the critics with Regretting You at 83% certified fresh and It Ends with Us and Reminders of Him at 87% each.

RELATED: ‘Digger’ World Premiere Red Carpet Photos: Tom Cruise, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Emma D’Arcy & More At London Premiere

On a night when word leaked that Warner Bros Motion Picture Chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy aren’t making the jump to the new combined Paramount-Warner Bros company, the studio’s $125M-$160M+ Tom Cruise-led satire Digger was soft everywhere with $1.2M previews. That’s lower than the preview of last fall’s One Battle After Another ($3.1M, $22M opening). The movie from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu will be lucky to open to north of $10M in North America.

Any good news here? Um, the cash so far is higher than the $770K previews made by Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed $125M epic Megalopolis, which opened to $4M via Lionsgate in 2024. Previews began for the R-rated Digger at 2 p.m. (I don’t recall any nude scenes in the movie, it has an R for F-bombs). Cruise’s movies have made $14 billion across 53 titles in 45 years. Even when he has a release, and even if it misfires, the whole value of the library rises again. Anecdotally, you could probably find a ton of Cruise titles on a major airline right now.

RELATED: The 65 Movies That Have Made More Than $1 Billion At The Global Box Office

1) Resident Evil (Sony) 3,684 theaters, Wk $32.1M (-60%), Total $112.3M/Wk 2

2) Avengers Endgame: Encore (Dis) 3,060 theaters, Wk $31.8M, Lifetime cume $890.1M/Wk 1 of re-issue

3) Heart of the Beast (Par) 3,435 theaters, Wk $27.3M/Wk 1

5) Forgotten Island (Uni/DWA) 3,548 theaters, Wk $16.4M/Wk 1

RELATED: Upcoming Anne Hathaway Movies From ‘The End Of Oak Street’ To ‘Verity’

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Like all the other big movie stars today, only a star attraction for certain type of roles. They’ve all tried something different, and stumbled.

Digger was a 8/10 for me. It’s not a movie for the general audience, though.

Guess Rotten Tomatoes isn’t always such a factor in a movie’s success or lack thereof, since VERITY has a 39 score and is topping this weekend (while DIGGER is 13 points higher at 52 and tanking).

Actually RT matters more than ever. It can’t save a movie, but it can cause films to over perform (Resident Evil) or underperform (Digger). There are exceptions, but the exceptions prove the rule.

No, RT doesn’t matter at all. At least not internationally.

Box office and Rotten Tomatoes stopped being in lockstep like 7 or 8 years ago. It was really only a ridiculous era that existed from 2012 to 2018. Anything less than 60 percent could litterally kill a movies opening weekend. That time is largely gone.

Eh… there’s always at least some hit movies that aren’t well reviewed. Adam Sandler had like 5-10 blockbusters in 00s that were below 50%. Generally though there’s a positive correlation. Like I don’t how many films that were highest grossing of the year also have rotten scores.

Movies that considered artistic are highly dependent on RT.

Kids movies, dads movies, famous actors in their bread and butter genre, certain directors are completely immune from RT score.

“Bread and butter genre” – I like that ☺️

IDK maybe less dependent but even among genre pics I’d argue there’s a positive correlation between favorable reviews and box office. Films aren’t generally speaking seeking bad reviews.