Verity storms past Tom Cruise's Digger at North American box office
Amazon MGM's psycho-thriller "Verity" has seized the North American box office, leaving Warner Bros.' costly Tom Cruise vehicle "Digger" trailing in third in its opening weekend.
"Verity" earned $15.1 million (US dollars) from 3,510 theatres across North America on Friday, 2 October, and is estimated to reach $33.6 million domestically — the United States and Canada — through Sunday, according to studio estimates reported by Variety. The gap is wide. The figures are studio estimates until Monday's actuals confirm them.
The film is adapted from Colleen Hoover's bestselling book of the same name and was directed by Michael Showalter. It stars Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford, Josh Hartnett as her husband, and Dakota Johnson as a struggling writer hired to finish books.
"Digger", an R-rated black comedy which bars under-17s without an adult, took $3.4 million from 3,321 North American theatres on Friday and is estimated to finish the weekend with $7.5 million domestically, as reported by Variety. It placed third for the day behind "Verity" and "Resident Evil". Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, it stars Cruise as a powerful oil tycoon whose company sparks an ecological calamity.
The budget arithmetic is stark. "Digger" was greenlit at $125 million, with costs later rising to between $160 million and $180 million after production ran long, according to Variety. A $7.5 million domestic start leaves a long path back on that outlay, before print-and-advertising spend — the cost of prints and marketing — is counted.
Elsewhere on the charts, Zach Cregger's zombie horror "Resident Evil" landed second on Friday with $3.62 million and is projected to add $12 million by Sunday for a domestic total of $124.395 million. Paramount Pictures' "The Heart of the Beast" took $3.15 million on Friday for a cumulative $38.39 million in North America. A24's "Primetime", which chronicles Chris Hansen's time hosting Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" and stars Robert Pattinson, earned $2.49 million on Friday and is expected to reach $7.5 million for the weekend, taking its domestic run to $28.58 million so far.
Early signals had pointed this way. "Verity" drew $4.5 million in previews to $1.2 million for "Digger", as reported by Variety. Amazon MGM Studios had earlier projected an opening in the $27 million to $30 million range for "Verity", according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What makes this stand out is the contrast in scale. A mid-budget adaptation has outrun a star-led production costing more than five times its weekend haul, and the calendar now decides how long each film holds screens.
