Tom Cruise’s Digger Officially Beaten by Anne Hathaway’s Erotic Thriller In Box Office Opening

Tom Cruise‘s Digger has failed to make a strong impression at the box office. The domestic opening collection seems to be even lower than initial tracking reports expected. Released on October 2, Digger grossed $3.4 million (via The Numbers) at the domestic box office, including $1.2 million from Thursday’s previews. Deadline projects that the satirical black comedy is expected to earn about $8 million on its opening weekend, which is lower than the reports previously suggested.

Meanwhile, with this, Tom Cruise has been officially overtaken by Anne Hathaway at the Friday box office. Verity, starring Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, grossed $15.1 million (The Numbers) on October 2, including $4.5 million from Thursday’s previews in 3,510 North American locations. The Amazon MGM Studios erotic thriller is expected to finish the weekend at No. 1 domestically with an estimated $33.6 million.

Tom Cruise Hits a Career Low With Digger’s Disastrous Audience Grade

Tom Cruise in Digger | Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Digger might just be heading towards the biggest box office disaster in Cruise’s career. Earlier, IndieWire critic Anne Thompson noted that the Alejandro G. Iñárritu movie would struggle to score with the mainstream audience. On CinemaScore, the movie was graded a C+ on CinemaScore. This marks one of the worst audience grades in the Hollywood star’s high-powered career, alongside his 2007 movie Lions for Lambs, which also received a C+. Meanwhile, despite surpassing Digger’s embarrassing box office performance, Verity received the same grade: a C+ on CinemaScore.

However, on Rotten Tomatoes, there is some difference between the scores received by the two movies. The Tom Cruise-led black comedy is currently at 51% on Tomatometer and 71% on Popcornmeter. Verity has received 34% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 69% from audiences.

What’s Next for Tom Cruise as Digger Struggles at the Domestic Box Office

Tom Cruise as Pete Maverick Mitchell in Top Gun Maverick | Credit: Paramount Pictures

While Digger is expected to have a disastrous theatrical run, Warner Bros. is holding out hope that the movie, made on $125 million, will perform well for awards. However, there’s just one problem: Digger might just be the most polarizing movie of the actor’s career, which means critics are completely divided. Some have praised it as a ‘gorgeous’ art film, but others think Cruise and his director couldn’t exactly achieve what they intended to in Digger.

Despite the disappointing box office performance, the movie seems to be a tiny bump in Cruise’s otherwise high-powered career. His Days of Thunder sequel is set for a June 2, 2028 release, while Paramount is actively developing Top Gun 3. Have you watched Digger yet? Let us know what you think.