Digger sinks at the box office, audiences reward Verity
Too many negative reviews and word-of-mouth have cast the work in a heavily bad light
Digger debuts in the United States with just 8 million dollars in 3,321 theaters(!), while Warner Bros. was aiming for an opening between 18 and 20 million. Another 12 million comes from international markets, for a worldwide total of approximately 20 million, in a word: disaster.
The result is significant especially considering the size of the investment. Alejandro González Iñárritu's film starring Tom Cruise reportedly required 160-180 million dollars for production, starting from an initial estimate of 125 million. Worldwide marketing would have added approximately 100 million. According to reported estimates, breaking even would require a global gross between 300 and 350 million.
Far below the darkest predictions
Reviews and word-of-mouth also worked against the film. Digger is an original dark comedy for adults built around a production scale significantly larger than usual for the genre. The contrast with the result of the thriller based on Colleen Hoover's novel is stark: 32.6 million in the United States and approximately 62.5 million worldwide on debut, with a production budget of approximately 40 million.
Among other releases, Resident Evil grosses 12.5 million in its third American weekend and reaches 215 million worldwide, against a budget of approximately 75 million.