This year’s fall film releases are already proving incredibly unpredictable at the box office. This weekend brought two major releases: Alejandro González Iñárritu’s much-anticipated Digger and the new Colleen Hoover adaptation Verity. Many expected Digger to guarantee the top spot at the box office, given the director’s reputation and Tom Cruise at the center. However, the tables have turned, and Verity started at number one at the box office this weekend. 

Directed by Michael Showalter, Verity is a sultry crime thriller starring Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett, and Dakota Johnson. The film earned $32 million domestically this weekend, topping the domestic box office. Over the past two years, Colleen Hoover has proven to be a strong ticket seller, with Verity posting the second-highest opening among the three widely released adaptations. Regretting You (2025) opened at $13 million, Reminders of Him (2026) opened at $17 million, and It Ends With Us (2024) broke open the dam with a $50 million opening.

While Digger didn’t have source material to lean on, it did have the star power of Tom Cruise taking on brash satire comedy after years of straight-down-the-middle action films. After an initial wave of negative reactions, projections for the film’s weekend performance began to fall. Over the weekend, the film opened to just over $8 million and landed at number four at the box office. Notably, the film earned less money as the weekend went on, losing around $1 million each day. This decline stemmed from the aforementioned puzzling first reactions, rough word-of-mouth, and marketing that leaned into the controversial reception. Digger’s budget is between $125 and $180 million, making this weekend’s performance one of the biggest bombs of 2026.

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil defends its second-place position at the domestic box office this weekend. The new video game adaptation has earned over $125 million after just three weeks. Just last year, Cregger’s last film, Weapons (2025), earned over $151 million domestically across thirteen weeks. On that basis, Resident Evil may become Zach Cregger’s biggest box office success so far. 

In its second weekend, Heart of the Beast ended up in third place over the weekend, earning $10.8 million. The Brad Pitt-starring wilderness thriller has now grossed over $38 million in two weeks. After a $10 million drop between weekends, Paramount will hope interest in the film persists to keep up with the wave of upcoming October releases. 

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Variety

Update Courtesy of Gabe Lillianthal

Feature Image from ‘Verity’ via Amazon MGM Studios