Tom Cruise Starer Digger Stumbles Hard at the Box Office While BookTok Adaptation Verity Dominates
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Tom Cruise's new dark comedy Digger bombed with a $20 million global opening against a $160 million budget, while BookTok adaptation Verity dominated the box office with over $62 million worldwide.
Tom Cruise and director Alejandro González Iñárritu are facing an uphill battle following a dismal opening weekend for Digger. According to reporting from IGN South Africa, the dark comedy pulled in a paltry $20 million globally against a hefty $160 million production budget. Despite an all-star cast featuring Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Sandra Hüller alongside an unrecognizable Cruise under heavy prosthetics, the film managed just $8 million domestically and $12 million internationally. Critics have been lukewarm, and general audiences remain sharply divided, leaving the satirical oil crisis film with a massive deficit to clear if it hopes to turn a profit.
Meanwhile, the box office painted a very different picture for adaptations connecting directly with modern online reading communities. Verity, Michael Showalter's big screen take on the Colleen Hoover novel, dominated the weekend charts with a $62.6 million global haul. Starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett, the mystery thriller proved that built-in BookTok audiences can still translate into massive theatrical pull even when critical reception is mixed. Other weekend highlights included Zach Cregger's Resident Evil pulling strong numbers in second place and Marvel reclaiming the all time global crown briefly with the Avengers Endgame Encore re-release.
Digger has a monumental task ahead if it wants to dig out of this early financial hole. While traditional cinema continues to navigate shifting audience habits, the stark contrast between these two releases highlights the shifting power of digital book fandoms versus legacy star power at the box office.
Tags: Entertainment, Movies, Streaming, Pop Culture
Original article: IGN South Africa