Box Office Report for the Week of October 4

This weekend, moviegoers worldwide are witnessing the end of an era. Warner Bros. Pictures, as we know it, will cease to exist on October 6, as David Ellison has settled with the 12 state Attorneys General and will merge the studio with Paramount. This giant conglomerate will be called Skydance, and we already know that Warner Bros. ‘ film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy will not be a part of this adventure.

The studio’s last-ever movie was Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger, starring Tom Cruise. In a way, this ending couldn’t be more perfect: the film is a middle finger to basically everything and everyone, but the only problem is that no one saw it. Despite being released in IMAX and having a massive influencer push behind it, the movie opened in fifth place, with $8 million domestically and $20 million globally, on a budget of…$180 million.

The film is set to lose Warner Bros. over $155 million, which is great for David Ellison since he’s already accumulated a bunch of debt to try and acquire the studio. More debt for him! In all seriousness, Digger will be the last of its kind, because Abdy and De Luca were primarily auteur-driven filmmakers that trusted in the instincts of the talents they hired and took massive risks at the studio level. It paid off tremendously in 2025 with films such as Sinners, Weapons, and One Battle After Another, but not so much this year.

In fact, the only WB film that turned a profit was Coyote vs. Acme, which the studio shelved as a tax write-off and another distributor picked it up! The film made over $100 million worldwide and has turned out to be one of the biggest success stories of the year. I guess the ACME corporation doesn’t know any better, now, don’t they? Paramount’s strategy doesn’t seem to be going in the auteur-driven direction, but they will have to release most of the films that are currently in the pipeline to meet their “30 movies a year” quota, and that debt can accrue if their slate isn’t as hot as this year’s.

As far as the other movies released this week, Colleen Hoover has another hit on her hands with Michael Showalter‘s Verity, opening with $32.6 million and capping off the year of Anne Hathaway on a commercial high, despite a dismal critical reception, sitting at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. But the audience doesn’t care, so we will get more Hoover adaptations in perpetuity until they stop turning a profit anymore. If we’re to look at the Nicholas Sparks adaptations, this could last a decade or so. Buckle up.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Verity (Amazon MGM Studios): $32.6M – 3,510 theatres
2. Resident Evil (Sony): $12.5M (-46%) – 3,259 theatres
3. Heart of the Beast (Paramount): $11.0M (-45%) – 3,481 theatres
4. Primetime (A24): $8.0M (-58%) – 2,894 theatres
5. Digger (Warner Bros): $8.0M – 3,321 theatres
6. Forgotten Island (Universal): $7.2M (-45%) – 3,555 theatres
7. Avengers Endgame Encore (Disney): $4.4M (-83%) – 3,000 theatres
8. Drishyam – The Conclusion (Zee Studios International): $2.7M – 541 theatres
9. Practical Magic 2 (Warner Bros): $2.6M (-53%) – 2,063 theatres
10. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Sony): $2.4M (-40%) – 1,724 theatres

Source: Comscore