Verity outruns Digger in Thursday previews as box-office weekend begins
Anne Hathaway has beaten Tom Cruise to the first punch at the box office.
Verity took $4.5 million from Thursday previews in the domestic market, the United States and Canada, while Cruise's Digger collected $1.2 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both films opened in North America on 2 October.
The gap points to a clear weekend winner. Verity is launching in 3,510 North American theatres, and Amazon MGM Studios projects it to open in the range of $27 million to $30 million. It is expected to take the top spot for the weekend.
That start would be efficient business. The film carries a $40 million production budget. It stars Hathaway alongside Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett and adapts Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name.
Its Thursday total is already the second-best for a Hoover adaptation. It sits behind the $7 million in previews for 2024's It Ends With Us, which opened to $50 million.
Digger faces a longer climb. The film is opening in more than 3,300 North American locations, and Warner Bros. expects it to open in the range of $12 million to $15 million. That projection is significantly lower than earlier opening-weekend forecasts.
The stakes are higher because the price is higher. Digger carries a $125 million production budget. It is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Cruise with Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller. Cruise plays a billionaire oil baron whose business empire unleashes disastrous consequences. The film holds a 52 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers.
The release lands in a week of change at Warner Bros. Film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are exiting the studio. Paramount Skydance's $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. is likely to be finalised on 6 October, with Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein expected to oversee the film side for both studios.
For fans, this means choice. A romance mystery against a big-canvas drama. The numbers on Monday will show who stayed.
