The North American box office is heading into a weekend of contrasting expectations as Anne Hathaway-led and Tom Cruise-starrer open in theatres.
According to , Verity, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller, is targeting a $30 million to $35 million domestic opening from 3,510 theatres. If the projection holds, the film would give Hathaway her third No. 1 opening of the year, following The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey.
By comparison, Variety reports that Digger, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Cruise, is projected to open at $12 million to $15 million from 3,300 North American screens.
Verity stars Hathaway alongside Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Directed by Michael Showalter, the film follows famed author Verity Crawford, who is badly injured in a car accident. Her husband then hires a struggling writer to complete the remaining books in the popular series.
According to Variety, Verity is the latest of Hoover’s works to receive the big-screen treatment, following Sony’s 2024 sleeper hit It Ends With Us, Paramount’s 2025 drama Regretting You and Universal’s 2026 romance Reminders of Him.
Among Hoover’s adaptations, It Ends With Us recorded the biggest debut at $50 million, followed by Reminders of Him at $17 million and Regretting You at $13.6 million, Variety reported. It Ends With Us is also the highest-grossing of the three, with $350 million globally.
Variety noted that Hoover’s film adaptations have generally been made on modest budgets, making them relatively low-risk bets for studios.
According to reports, Verity was produced for $40 million.
The film is expected to help Amazon MGM build on its theatrical business after the studio’s summer release Masters of the Universe struggled at the box office. Variety reported that the film grossed $113 million globally against a $200 million budget.
Amazon MGM previously scored a major theatrical success with Ryan Gosling’s astronaut drama Project Hail Mary, which Variety reported grossed $684 million globally.
The studio’s upcoming slate includes I Play Rocky, about the making of the 1976 Sylvester Stallone classic Rocky, and the heist thriller How to Rob a Bank, starring Nicholas Hoult and Pete Davidson.
Tom Cruise’s Digger is entering the weekend with a significantly lower opening projection.
Variety reports that the R-rated environmental satire is expected to collect $12 million to $15 million during its opening weekend from 3,300 North American screens.
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Digger stars Cruise as a wealthy oil tycoon whose company causes a potential catastrophe.
According to Variety, Digger was initially greenlit by Warner Bros. for $125 million. However, four sources familiar with the production told the publication that the budget subsequently climbed to between $160 million and $180 million after production went over schedule.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson disputed those figures, Variety reported.
Box-office experts cited by Variety said a movie of that size would need an opening of around $40 million to justify its price tag.
Reviews and word-of-mouth surrounding Digger have been negative.
The Warner Bros. marketing campaign has incorporated some of that response. In a new advertisement, the studio urged moviegoers to “decide for yourself” after critics described the film as “unpleasant” and “baffling”, according to Variety.
The two releases enter the weekend with a sharp difference in their projected openings and reported production costs.
According to Variety, Verity is targeting $30 million-$35 million from 3,510 theatres against a reported $40 million production budget.
Digger, meanwhile, is projected to open at $12 million-$15 million from 3,300 North American screens. Its reported budget of $160 million-$180 million is disputed by Warner Bros.
