‘Digger’ Is a Box Office Disaster With $8 Million Opening

Digger got buried this weekend at the box office.

The climate change satire starring Tom Cruise opened in fifth place, after earning an estimated $8 million from 3,321 theaters across the U.S. and Canada, according to data gathered by Rentrak. That worked out to a per-theater average of $2,409.

The Warner Bros. release follows a powerful oil tycoon who plans to save the world from an environmental disaster he helped create.

Joining Cruise in the cast are Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller. Digger was directed and co-written by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant and Birdman).

Moviegoers gave the satire a C+ grade on CinemaScore in exit polling. Critics were also divided, with the film earning a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Tom Cruise swings big for Oscar gold, and dear God, does he miss,” wrote Kristy Puchko of Mashable.

“Digger is devoid of substance,” said Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com.

But Brooke Obie of Black Girl Watching gave the film high marks.

“Digger is a profound wrestling match wherein Iñárritu wonders aloud whether art in the face of catastrophe is worth it. My answer is a resounding yes,” wrote Obie.

The film cost a reported $125 million –$150 million to produce, according to the Associated Press. After earning so little domestically, it’s now one of the biggest bombs of the year.

Meanwhile, Verity easily claimed the top spot with a projected $32.6 million from 3,510 theaters, and a per-theater average of $9,293. Anne Hathaway stars alongside Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.

The psychological thriller follows a struggling writer who moves into the home of an injured best-selling author to complete her book series. While there, the writer discovers disturbing autobiographical notes that blur the line between truth and fiction.

The Amazon MGM Studios release is based on a Colleen Hoover novel by the same name. Michael Showalter directed the thriller from a script by Nick Antosca.

Critics were largely unimpressed, with the film getting a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite those reviews, Verity brought in roughly $30 million internationally, pushing its worldwide total to $62.6 million against a reported $40 million production budget.

Elsewhere this weekend, Resident Evil took second place with an estimated $12.5 million in its third weekend in theaters, according to Rentrak.

Heart of the Beast was third with $11 million in its second weekend. Primetime followed in fourth place with just over $8 million in its second weekend. As mentioned, Digger rounded out the top five with $8 million.

Below is the box office chart from Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends.