Tom Cruise Digger earns $20m globally as Paramount acquires Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. released Digger into North American theaters, generating a paltry $8 million domestically and handing Tom Cruise one of the worst box-office debuts of his career. Fortune reported that the critically panned satire directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu also pulled in a weak $12 million from 74 international markets, bringing its global opening weekend to just $20 million.

Digger Losses Compound Paramount Skydance Merger Pressures

The poor performance compounds financial pressures as Paramount Skydance prepares to close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the transaction. Digger carried a production budget of at least $125 million, with some reports pegging the cost closer to $150 million, alongside an estimated $100 million marketing spend.

Fortune reported that the film was positioned as an awards-season heavyweight following the studio’s strategy with last year’s One Battle After Another. That politically charged release grossed $213.2 million worldwide and won best picture at the Academy Awards. In contrast, Digger received a 51% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ CinemaScore from audiences, prompting Warner Bros. to run decide for yourself advertising ahead of the weekend.

Verity Takes Top Spot as Avengers Reclaims Global Crown

While Digger struggled in fifth place domestically, Amazon MGM’s Verity claimed the number one spot in North American cinemas with $32.6 million. Directed by Michael Showalter and starring Dakota Johnson alongside Anne Hathaway, the film extended Colleen Hoover’s box-office adaptation streak.

Further down the chart, the Marvel re-release Avengers: Endgame: Encore brought in $4.4 million domestically and $14.4 million overseas. Fortune reported that the second week of the re-release pushed Avengers: Endgame past Avatar to reclaim the all-time global box office crown, not accounting for inflation, with a cumulative total of $2.9255 billion compared to Avatar at $2.9237 billion.

Warner Bros Chairs Depart as Paramount Shifts Film Strategy

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are expected to depart the studio, with mass layoffs anticipated to follow the merger. ‘Digger’ collapsed this weekend and the new management of the combined Paramount and Warner Bros., David Ellison and Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, will soon decide what kind of movies they want from WB, film consultant David A. Gross wrote in his box-office newsletter. Paramount does not have a recent history of making big, auteur-driven films like this — that strategy appears to be over and out.

Paramount Skydance is scheduled to formally close the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.