Amazon MGM’s “Verity” is starting like a hit. The Colleen Hoover adaptation earned $4.5 million in Thursday previews and is tracking to open in the $30 million to $35 million range, enough to lead the weekend. Produced for $40 million, it would give Anne Hathaway her third No. 1 film of the year after “The Odyssey” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
In the thriller, Hathaway plays reclusive author Verity Crawford, who cannot finish her latest novel after an accident. Verity and her husband, played by Josh Hartnett, hire Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to complete the manuscript—an assignment that pulls her into a tangle of secrets.
Digger opens much lower
Tom Cruise’s “Digger,” directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, previewed to $1.2 million. It is projected to debut with $12 million to $15 million, far below its reported $125 million budget—which may have climbed past $160 million. The environmental thriller casts Cruise as an oil tycoon who must confront a climate catastrophe. Reviews have not been kind, though Cruise and the “Digger” team have leaned into the bad press by asking viewers to judge the film for themselves.
The Colleen Hoover track record
“Verity” is the latest in a fast-building series of Hoover adaptations. “It Ends With Us” remains the benchmark: a $50 million opening and $350 million worldwide. “Reminders of Him” opened earlier this year with $17 million, and 2025’s “Regretting You” started with $13.6 million. A $30 million-plus debut would put “Verity” second among the adaptations, ahead of both recent entries.
Why the comparison matters
The same weekend is offering a clean test: a $40 million adaptation with built-in reader demand against a $125 million-plus original carried by a star. The difference in previews—$4.5 million versus $1.2 million—shows how far apart their commercial positions are before Saturday matinees. For exhibitors, that shapes screen allocation and premium-format planning; for marketers, it shows which campaign has done the job.
What the numbers mean
- Verity’s preview number is the strongest early signal that its $40 million budget has room to work.
- Digger’s gap between budget and projection makes it a likely high-profile miss even if actuals improve.
- The two films are a direct comparison between lower-cost IP and an expensive star-driven original on the same weekend.
For distribution and marketing teams, the takeaway is less about which film wins than about how much opening-weekend demand each budget needs. “Verity” can turn a $30 million start into a clear commercial result; “Digger” would need an unusually strong hold to recover from a $12 million to $15 million start.
Source: Variety
