{
  "id": 12048316,
  "title": "Tom Cruise movie Digger bombs at box office, Verity takes top spot",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/tom-cruise-movie-digger-bombs-at-box-office-verity-takes-top-spot",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-05T01:05:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-05/tom-cruise-movie-digger-bombs-at-box-office-verity-top-spot/107229102"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tom Cruise's latest film, Digger, has underwhelmed at the box office, finishing fifth in North America with a meager $8 million ($11.5 million) opening weekend. The movie, which stars Cruise and is a satire about a powerful oil tycoon and an environmental disaster, had a production budget of $125 million ($179.7 million) before marketing expenses, which were estimated at $100 million ($143.8 million). Despite Cruise's bankability and an Oscar win in 2025, Digger's poor performance is a stark contrast to his usual success.\n\nThe movie, directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures, has also struggled worldwide, earning $20 million ($28.7 million) globally, including $12 million ($17.2 million) internationally. Cruise's character in Digger is unrecognizable, and the film has been both criticized and praised by critics, with some describing it as a disjointed climate change farce.\n\nInterestingly, just as the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery concluded, Cruise's Digger failed to make a significant impact at the box office. The abysmal opening comes at a time when the merger is expected to strengthen Warner Bros Discovery's position in the industry.\n\nIn contrast to Digger's disappointing start, Verity, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, took the number one spot at the box office. Starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, the movie about a struggling author hired as a ghostwriter for a publishing sensation debuted with $32.6 million ($46.8 million) in North America and $3.1 million ($4.4 million) in Australia.",
  "summary": "Movie star Tom Cruise suffers one of the worst debuts of his career with his new movie Digger.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "Tom Cruise suffers one of the worst movie debuts of his career. Reviews were so bad Warner Bros. ran ‘decide for yourself’ ads",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/tom-cruise-suffers-one-of-the-worst-movie-debuts-of-his-career",
        "published": "2026-10-04T21:02:21.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}