As October began, two films jumped into a fight for the top spot. Unfortunately, it turned out that only one had a chance.
Amazon MGM's Verity easily took the top spot with a pretty great start, further continuing Anne Hathaway's streak at the box office this year. On the other hand, WB's Digger was a catastrophic failure, posting Tom Cruise's worst debut in decades. On the worldwide angle, Avengers: Endgame reclaimed its title as the biggest film of all time.
The Top 10 earned a combined $91.2 million this weekend. That's up 23.1% from last year, when Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl topped the box office and The Smashing Machine flopped.
Debuting at the top spot, Amazon MGM's Verity opened with a pretty great $32 million in 3,510 theaters. That's much better than the prior Colleen Hoover adaptations Regretting You ($13.6 million) and Reminders of Him ($17.9 million), but it was not close to matching It Ends with Us ($50 million).
Nevertheless, given the film's $40 million budget, this is more than good enough. It's one of the author's most popular novels, and it had more star power than the prior adaptations, in the likes of Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Notably, this marks Anne Hathaway's fourth $20 million opener in a row, which is a very impressive run for an actress.
Amazon MGM did a great job in selling the thriller elements in the film, and they have pushed the film heavily over the past two weeks. With female-driven films like Practical Magic 2 and Forgotten Island fizzling out, this was the new attraction for women in theaters. Unfortunately, it also continued Hoover's streak of underwhelming reception, as it's sitting at a paltry 33% on RT.
According to Amazon MGM, a massive 79% of the audience was female, and 38% was in the 25-34 demographic. The film did well, but unfortunately it looks like legs might be in jeopardy. Audiences gave Verity a poor "C+" on CinemaScore, which is worse than any of the prior Hoover adaptations. Usually film adaptations land in the B range, so this means that audiences aren't liking what they saw. It's likely that Verity falls off over the next few weeks, but it should still make its way to $75 million domestically.
Resident Evil stayed at second place, dropping 45% and adding $12.6 million. The film has earned a damn great $125 million, but it looks like topping Weapons ($151 million) will be out of the question unless the Halloween season gives it some help.
Heart of the Beast also kept its third place, dropping 46% for $10.8 million. Not a bad drop, and through 10 days, it has earned a solid $38.2 million. Definitely looks like it will make its way to over $60 million domestically.
Yeah, it took until fourth place so we could finally talk about the other newcomer this week. WB's Digger, which is also the iconic studio's last ever film as a separate entity, was a gigantic failure, earning a pathetic $8 million in 3,321 theaters.
That was nowhere close to being director Alejandro Gónzalez Iñárritu's biggest debut. It's way below The Revenant ($39.8 million), and it's only a bit above Babel ($5.5 million). And as for Tom Cruise, that's his worst debut since Lions for Lambs ($6.7 million) and it's his worst debut as lead star since Rain Man ($7 million). Adjusted for inflation, this was Cruise's least-attended film since All the Right Moves ($5.4 million adjusted) in 1983, when he was not a established star yet.
The film was initially greenlit at $125 million, but production problems led it to rise to $160-$180 million. Needless to say, a $8 million debut is just not good at all. There's just no way to spin this as anything but a colossal disaster. With high ticket prices and IMAX push, the film was playing to near empty venues. How did this happen?
Cruise is a box office draw. That's not a discussion. He has maintained popularity ever since Top Gun propelled him 40 years ago, and the $14 billion in worldwide receipts for his films say it all. But there's clearly a point where it's time to question what kind of film do people who watch his film actually want from him. He has done mostly action blockbusters, with some thrillers in between. That's been his wheelhouse, and given how much money they have money, it's hard to blame him for sticking in that aspect.
But when he tried to deviate from that, results have varied. He did some successful dramas in the 80s and 90s, but there's some films where audiences actually had second thoughts. Look no further than Magnolia. Released when he was in his prime, the film made just $22.4 million domestically, becoming his worst performer since he became a big star. Only to be later topped by Lions for Lambs ($14.9 million). Which is to say that Digger was Cruise at his least recognizable, not just in terms of make-up, but also in terms of tone and story. The audience who watches Cruise's films is not watching something like Digger to begin with.
Iñárritu has had some box office success, with Birdman and Babel making over $100 million worldwide, and The Revenant making a staggering $532 million. But his prior film Bardo earned polarizing reactions and didn't gain much traction when it hit Netflix in 2022. Digger shared more similarities with Bardo than something like The Revenant, and that's something that will divide audiences. Or in this case, just make them uninterested.
The plot didn't help matters. The premise followed an aging oil magnate who must save the world from a disaster he created. People aren't exactly rushing out to see a smug and prick billionaire as the film's lead character, especially over tensions from the past years. Even with IMAX screens, it wasn't enough, and the format represented around half of the opening.
WB clearly had trouble in marketing the film, but they sure took their time with it. They didn't release a single full trailer until July, and it didn't really catch on. They released another one a few weeks ago, which still lacked a hook. This is a very short window for a blockbuster, and even the material was hit-and-miss with audiences. There were so many questions regarding the film's story, as trailers didn't do a good job in explaining the premise and instead relying on crazy shenanigans as its main attraction. This is a film that it's just too difficult to market.
Their last hope was that reviews would give it a boost. But unfortunately, critics were polarized, as it's sitting at 51% on RT. At least it's not completely panned, but these are not the kind of numbers that you want to help boost an Oscar hopeful. In the past days, WB actually used the numbers in their marketing campaign, hoping that people would make their own conclusions. But by that point, it was just too late.
According to WB, 73% of the audience was male. Iñárritu said he made the film with Gen Z in mind, and one might say he succeeded, as 60% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. Good job, I guess, but it was just so small. Cruise's audience, usually skewing old, sat out. No surprise, this film is playing strictly on the coasts which are repping 48% of its cash versus the regions' average of 40%.
Audiences gave Digger a bad "C+" on CinemaScore. Could've been worse given the film's subject matter and tone, but it's still not a glowing grade. It's Cruise's worst grade since Lions for Lambs ("C"), and his worst as lead star since Vanilla Sky ("D–"). With poor word of mouth and Oscar chances shrinking by the minute, Digger won't last long in theaters. It's very likely that it misses $20 million domestically, which means it'll be Cruise's least-attended film since Losin' It in 1983. And guarantees WB will now be 13 months without a single $100 million grosser.
So how much will this impact everyone involved? Cruise is probably not going to be affected, even if he also produced the film. He already has Days of Thunder 2 set to begin filming soon, and will be released in June 2028. In hindsight, perhaps the announcement wasn't a coincidence. But if you wonder "why does Cruise only make action blockbusters?", there's your answer. As for Iñárritu, don't expect him to be handed over another big budget like this ever again. The Revenant also had a very difficult production, taking the budget from $65 million to $135 million (even if the film was very successful), and Bardo was a failure with critics and audiences.
Well, there goes Warner Bros. after 103 years. An iconic studio, responsible for some landmark films. Things are changing soon, so it's leaving with this as its last fully owned image. It was nice while it lasted.
Primetime added $8 million. That's a very rough 58% drop, which lines up with the mixed word of mouth. The film has earned $34 million, and it looks to finish with a little below $50 million domestically.
In sixth place, Forgotten Island added $7.2 million. That's a 45% drop, which is a bit steeper than usual for animation, especially when the film already debuted so low. Through 10 days, the film has earned a disappointing $23.6 million, and hopes to close with at least $40 million domestically.
After topping the box office, Avengers: Endgame Encore played like the typical front-loaded re-release. It collapsed a brutal 83%, earning $4.4 million this weekend. The film has now a lifetime gross of $894.6 million.
In eighth place, WB's Practical Magic 2 continues dropping like rock. It dropped another rough 50%, making just $2.7 million this weekend. The film has earned $64.8 million domestically, and it's fading so quickly that making it to $70 million feels too difficult.
The Indian film Drishyam – The Conclusion cracked ninth place with $2.7 million in 541 theaters.
Rounding out the Top 10 was Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It dropped 38%, adding $2.5 million. The film has hit $954.5 million.
The Odyssey has finally left the Top 10, and the loss of IMAX screens led to its biggest drop yet. It collapsed 66%, earning $1.2 million. You can bet there are some IMAX venues upset that they had to abandon the sold-out screenings just so they could screen Digger to empty screenings. The film's domestic total stands at $620.4 million.
OVERSEASLet's get to the big news.
With $14.4 million overseas, Avengers: Endgame has hit $2.925 billion worldwide. Which means it has officially reclaimed the top spot as the highest-grossing film of all time from Avatar ($2.923 billion), but it already surpassed it in terms of tickets a long time ago. Encore alone has made $126 million worldwide, which is an impressive result for a re-release.
Verity debuted with $29.8 million overseas, for a pretty great $61.8 million worldwide start. That's higher than the debuts of Regretting You ($23.6 million) and Reminders of Him ($28.1 million), and even higher than Practical Magic 2 ($46 million).
The best debuts were in the UK ($4.5M), Brazil ($3.8M), Germany ($3.8M), Australia ($3.1M), France ($1.7M), Mexico ($1.5M), Spain ($825K), Italy ($760K), UAE ($670K), Netherlands ($590K), Portugal ($575K), Saudi Arabia ($535K), India ($500K), Norway ($400K), Austria ($380K), Sweden ($375K), New Zealand ($370K), Turkey ($370K), Ukraine ($370K), Switzerland ($330K), Belgium ($320K), Hungary ($318K), Argentina ($300K), Greece ($245K), Poland ($240K), Colombia ($238K), Philippines ($233K), Lithuania ($205K), Finland ($190K) and Israel ($185K).
The film should enjoy some good legs through August. Should get definitely get to over $200 million worldwide.
Heart of the Beast added $21.5 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $98.5 million. It opened in China with a fine $2.1 and in Turkey with $225K. The best markets are France ($7.6M), the UK ($5.5M), Mexico ($5.1M), Spain ($3.6M), Australia ($3.3M), Germany ($2.3M). Today, it crosses the $100 million worldwide, and there's still the possibility it can reach $200 million, with South Korea still to go.
Resident Evil added $16.6 million overseas, for a fantastic $246.4 million worldwide run. The best markets are the UK ($15M), Mexico ($10.9M), Germany ($6M), Australia ($7.4M), France ($6.6M) and Spain ($6.3M). It should pass Weapons ($270 million) by next week, and given its incredible pre-sale numbers in China, it looks like $350 million worldwide should be coming very soon.
Digger was also a failure overseas, making just $12 million, for an anemic $20 million worldwide launch. Not a single market where it hit #1. There's just nothing indicating a bright future for the film across the world, with Deadline already estimating a huge $150 million loss on the film (it could be way higher). Cruise will have his first sub $100 million film as lead star in a long, long time.
FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Toy Story 5 Jun/19 Disney $159,677,837 $480,294,461 $1,148,032,149 $250M The Dog Stars Aug/28 20th Century Studios $7,709,729 $14,961,776 $39,321,916 $70M By Any Means Sep/4 Paramount $7,522,948 $15,763,404 $16,911,935 $29M The Uprising Sep/11 Focus Features $3,311,085 $6,513,180 $8,079,597 $20M- Those toys are very lucrative. Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 5 has closed with a fantastic $1.148 billion worldwide. Once again passing the prior film as the highest-grossing film in the franchise, which is very rare for any IP. The film opened incredibly high, but despite great word of mouth, it didn't hold as well as the prior films. It seemed like $500 million should've been an easy feat, but it fell short of that. It's a great result regardless, and that's not even mentioning merchandising.
- Increasingly common Ridley Scott L. 20th Century Studios' The Dog Stars has closed with a very poor $39.3 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $70 million budget (could be as high as $110 million). Even though the book is reportedly popular, audiences avoided this, as the film felt like a pastiche of every post-apocalyptic IP from the last 15 years. And Scott is not gonna be affected in the slightest; he's already set to film Treasure Island, which is set for November 2027. That man is gonna go all the way to 100 years.
- Carry on pals, nothing to see here. Paramount's By Any Means has closed with a very poor $16.9 million worldwide, below its $29 million budget. Paramount made a very light push on the film, but it looks like audiences are losing interest in Mark Wahlberg's projects, especially if they're outside streaming.
- Nothing really shook the world. Focus Features' The Uprising has closed with a very weak $8 million worldwide, after just 3 weeks. It still has overseas markets left, including the United Kingdom, but the prospects aren't convincing. Focus didn't really push this, and then made the very absurd decision to include the Rise of Robin Hood title to try to raise awareness, but that's a name that hasn't been popular lately.
With both Verity and Digger set for big drops, one film will aim to take the top spot.
Universal is banking on Other Mommy, the latest production from Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. It stars Jessica Chastain as a mother who must do everything to protect her daughter from a supernatural entity that resembles her. This marks Chastain's return to horror, after the successes of Mama in 2013 (starting to see a pattern?) and It: Chapter Two in 2019. The marketing push has been pretty good, and Universal is hoping that it can be the main horror attraction for the spooky season.
Sony is also releasing the drama The Social Reckoning, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. It's the "companion piece" to The Social Network, and stars Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison and Jeremy Strong, and dramatizes the 2021 Facebook leak by the whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeff Horwitz. The comparisons to the original are pretty much inevitable, given its highly acclaimed status, and without David Fincher nor Jesse Eisenberg back. Given the decline in interest in Zuckerberg over the past years, it'd be surprising if the film made at least half of what the original opened with 16 years ago.
A24 is releasing Chris Rock's new film Misty Green in limited release. It stars Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, and Rock, and follows a fading Award-winning actress who revisits her past and plans to make a comeback while reconnecting with her former talent agent. The film premired at Toronto and reviews are middling (67% on RT), so it's unlikely it can do a great impression when it expands nationwide.
STREAMING DATANumbers for the week of September 21 to 27 on Netflix:
No. Movie Year Studio Weeks in Top 10 Views Runtime Hours Viewed 1 Unabomber 2026 Netflix 1 16,400,000 1:40 27,400,000 2 Best of the Best 2026 Netflix 2 7,300,000 1:52 13,600,000 3 A Minecraft Movie 2025 Warner Bros. 1 7,000,000 1:41 11,800,000 4 Riot 2015 VMI 2 4,400,000 1:27 6,400,000 5 The Whisper Man 2026 Netflix 2 4,000,000 1:54 7,600,000 6 Black Adam 2022 Warner Bros. 1 3,500,000 2:05 7,200,000 7 The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 2023 Lionsgate 2 3,400,000 2:00 6,700,000 8 Irumudi 2026 Netflix 2 3,400,000 2:22 8,100,000 9 Why Did I Get Married Again? 2026 Netflix 3 3,100,000 1:51 5,800,000 10 Modha Rathri 2026 Netflix 2 2,900,000 2:22 6,900,000The thriller Unabomber debuted with an okay 16.4 million views. Not bad considering the film's very poor reviews (27% on RT).
The Whisper Man added 4 million views, taking its total to 79.5 million views.
Why Did I Get Married Again? is fading quick