On cusp of merger, ‘Digger’ bombs for Warner Bros., ‘Verity’ takes No. 1 at box office

NEW YORK — On the cusp of the studio’s merger with Paramount, Warner Bros.’ “Digger” flopped in its opening weekend, handing Tom Cruise one of the worst debuts of his career and serving as a bitter final note for Warner Bros. as a standalone studio.

No. 1 in North American theaters instead went to Amazon MGM’s “Verity,” extending the streak for Colleen Hoover adaptations at the box office. It debuted with $32.6 million. The film, directed by Michael Showalter, stars Dakota Johnson as a writer hired to ghostwrite a book series by an incapacitated author (Anne Hathaway).

But all eyes were on how “Digger,” one of the year’s biggest gambles, would perform. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s critically panned satire grossed a paltry $8 million domestically. Cruise is typically a big draw overseas, but international sales, $12 million from 74 markets, were also weak.

After reviews so bad that Warner Bros. opted to run “decide for yourself” ads, estimates for “Digger” had been revised down over the past week.

It’s a painfully rough start for a movie that cost at least $125 million to make. Reports have pegged the production budget closer to $150 million. The marketing spend is estimated at another…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business