411 Box Office Report: Verity Takes #1 While Digger Bombs

Anne Hathaway destroyed Tom Cruise at the box office this weekend, with Verity taking #1 while Digger crashed and burned. The latest Colleen Hoover adaptation claimed the top spot for the weekend with $32.6 million. That’s more or less on par with the expectations, which had the movie coming in at around $30 million coming into the frame.

The opening is below the $50 million start of the biggest adaptation of Hoover’s books, It Ends With Us. However, it is leaps ahead of the solid $13.7 million and $18 million openings of Regretting You in October of last year and Reminders of Him back in March.

All of that was very much expected; Verity is Hoover’s second most popular novel behind It Ends With Us and the star power of Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett helped boost the film to the numbers it hit. Critics may have turned their nose up at the film, which has a 37% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, but they didn’t much like the other Hoover adaptations either (Reminders of Him is the highest score at 56%).

Verity is lackluster with moviegoers as well, who gave it a C+ CinemaScore and 70% RT audience rating. The other films were all from A- to a B, and in the 83% to 87% range for RT audience numbers. That will be something to watch in terms of its legs; however, Verity is in good shape regardless. It added $30 million overseas for a $62.6 million worldwide start against a $40 million budget. The film should be able to reach at least $75 million in the US and will ultimately be profitable for Amazon-MGM Studios.

Resident Evil continues to soak up money, with the Zach Cregger video game adaptation down a solid 46% in its third weekend to $12.5 million. That puts the film at $124.9 million in the US and $245.4 million worldwide. The horror flick is a winner for Sony Pictures against its $75 million budget and has become the third-highest grossing film in the franchise by worldwide measurements, behind only Resident Evil: Afterlife ($295.9 million) and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter ($314.1 million). It’s well on course for a domestic final of $150 million, perhaps a bit more.

Heart of the Beast had a solid hold in its second weekend. The Brad Pitt-starring was off 45% from its opening weekend numbers with $11 million. That puts the Paramount Pictures film at $38.4 million in the US and $98.7 million worldwide. Never underestimate the power of star name value overseas.

Heart of the Beast still has a ways to go to hit profit, as it cost $82 million to produce. But it’s in okay shape at the moment and could make it as high as $60 million in the US. If the overseas numbers continue to shine, it should end up profitable.

Primetime was down 58% in its second weekend as it brought in $8 million. That drop is to be expected considering the buzzy nature of the film and how well it overperformed last frame. The Robert Pattinson-led drama from A24 is already positioned for profit as it’s at $34.1 million domestic and $34.4 million worldwide against a $15 million budget. The film is now looking at around $50 million stateside for the end of its run.

Going back to new releases, Tom Cruise’s latest film landed with a whimper in Digger. The satirical black comedy grossed just $8 million, a far sight from the $20 million that Warner Bros. was hoping to get for its opening weekend. Even that would have been bad considering the film’s $160 million budget, but this is immediate bomb territory.

Digger comes from acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu and had a lot of hype as it was Iñárritu’s first major theatrical film since his one-two punch of Birdman and The Revenant. The latter film had grossed $184.1 million domestically and $533.4 million worldwide on the back of its buzz and Oscar success. With that in mind and Cruise on board, WB took a chance on Iñárritu’s big swing.

The problem is manyfold. For one, satires often don’t perform well at the box office. They aren’t crowd pleasers, and the marketing for Digger was off-puttingly weird to many moviegoers. And this doesn’t exactly have acclaim or buzz as it is polarizing both critics (51% on RT) and audiences (C+ CinemaScore, 71% RT audience rating).

Bottom line: this is a flop. It’s the lowest opening for Cruise since 2007’s Lions for Lambs took in just $6.7 million, and it didn’t score overseas either where it brought in $12 million for a $20 million total. It’s probably not going to top $25 million in the US and will obviously be a big money loser for Warner Bros.

Forgotten Island was down 45% in its second weekend, with the Universal-produced animated film taking in $7.2 million. That puts the feature at $23.6 million in the US and $38.5 million worldwide, well below what it would need at this point to be profitable against an $80 million budget. The film is looking like it will perhaps hit $35 million to $40 million or so stateside.

As was widely expected, Avengers Endgame: Encore lost all its juice as it was down 83% to $4.4 million in its second weekend of re-release. Re-releases are all about the first weekend experience, and dropping this hard isn’t hurting anyone. The film has reclaimed the #1 spot at the worldwide box office as it now has $894.6 million in the US and $2.925 billion globally, edging it past Avatar’s $2.924 billion.

Hindi-language crime thriller Drishyam: The Conclusion opened at #8, bringing in $2.7 million. That is a decent result for the latest entry in the Abhishek Pathak-directed trilogy. The concluding chapter is already a success with $28.6 million worldwide against a reported $11.4 million budget. As is typical with foreign language films, it will likely drop hard and thus slip out of the top 10 next weekend.

Practical Magic 2 slipped 53% again in its fourth weekend to gross $2.7 million. The fantasy drama is now at $64.7 million in the US and $98.8 million worldwide against its $75 million budget. It is still not going to be profitable in theaters, but Warner Bros. won’t lose much if anything on it by the time it tallies digital numbers. $70 million remains the domestic endgame.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was down 40% in its 10th weekend to close out the top 10 with $2.5 million. The MCU film now has $954.5 million domestic and $2.506 billion worldwide and will finish off at about $960 million. The budget was $225 million.

Next weekend will see a new #1 again as Jessica Chastain jumps into horror with Other Mommy. The Universal film is targeting a range north of $30 million. Sony Pictures’ The Social Reckoning is looking at around $8 million to $10 million to start, while Angel Studios’ Angel and the Badman will be in the low single digits.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. Verity – $32.6 million ($32.6 million total, $62.6 million WW)
2. Resident Evil – $12.5 million ($124.5 million total, $245.4 million WW)
3. Heart Of the Beast – $11 million ($38.4 million total, $98.7 million WW)
4. Primetime – $8 million ($34.1 million total, $34.4 million WW)
5. Digger – $8 million ($8 million total, $20 million WW)
6. Forgotten Island – $7.2 million ($23.6 million total, $38.5 million WW)
7. Avengers: Endgame – $4.4 million ($894.6 million total, $2.926 billion WW)
8. Drishyam – The Conclusion – $2.7 million ($28.6 million WW)
9. Practical Magic 2 – $2.7 million ($64.7 million total, $98.8 million WW)
10. Spider-Man: Brand New Day – $2.5 million ($954.8 million total, $2.505 billion WW)