Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Monday, October 5, 2026
Tom Cruise’s Digger Opens to $8 Million as Warner Bros. Satire Bombs at Box Office
Digger, the Warner Bros. satire starring Tom Cruise, collapsed with $8 million from 3,321 North American theaters, and rivals believe the figure will be closer to $7.5 million when final numbers arrive Monday, Variety reports. The film carries a production budget of $160 to $180 million, and the studio spent another $100 million on global marketing. Warner Bros. had hoped for $18 million to $20 million. Abroad, Digger took $12 million from 73 markets for a $20 million global start, and Variety says it is primed to lose at least $150 million to $200 million theatrically.
Verity Opens to $62.5 Million Worldwide, Second-Best Start for Colleen Hoover
Amazon MGM Studios’ Verity, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, opened to $62.5 million worldwide, Deadline reports, the second-best start for author Colleen Hoover behind It Ends With Us at $95.6 million. The U.S. portion was $32.6 million, drawing an audience that was 78% female. Verity took No. 1 in the U.K. with $4.5 million on 950 screens and in Brazil with $3.8 million on 715 screens. With a $40 million net production cost, Deadline says the film underscores Amazon MGM Studios’ mark in the female content space.
Avengers: Endgame Reclaims All-Time Box Office Record From Avatar After Encore Re-Release
Avengers: Endgame has reclaimed the title of highest-grossing movie in box office history from Avatar, Variety reports, with $2.925 billion worldwide against Avatar’s $2.923 billion after five re-releases. Disney and Marvel reissued the film to generate excitement for Avengers: Doomsday, which debuts in December, and the re-release has generated more than $126 million worldwide. Variety says the turnout has theater owners buzzing for the sequel, which Anthony and Joe Russo returned to direct and which is expected to be one of the year’s biggest movies. The two films have traded the title over the years, and Endgame fell to No. 2 in 2021 when Avatar returned to theaters.
Channing Dungey Poised to Add Paramount Cable Networks Under Skydance Structure
Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros Television Group and US Networks, would take over the Paramount cable networks under the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery, recently named Skydance, Deadline reports exclusively. She would add oversight of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET, plus VH1, Paramount Network, TV Land, CMT, Pop TV and Logo TV, on top of the WBD cable brands she already leads, reporting to George Cheeks. Per Deadline’s sources, the TV studios would sit under Cheeks, film studios under Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, and the streamers, HBO Max and Paramount+, under Casey Bloys.
Variety Makes Oscar Case for Pedro Pascal After Behemoth! Premiere at New York Film Festival
Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! world-premiered Friday night at Alice Tully Hall as the centerpiece selection of the New York Film Festival, and Variety is already making the Oscar case for star Pedro Pascal. Variety ranks his turn as Alex Serian, a former child prodigy from a family of Los Angeles studio musicians who returns home after 20 years on tour to record Hollywood film scores, among his best work on film. The movie is Gilroy’s first as a director since The Bourne Legacy in 2012, and its cast also includes Olivia Wilde, Hank Azaria and Will Arnett.
The History of Concrete Tops $1 Million as NAZA Opens to $86,000 Over Five Days
John Wilson’s Sundance-premiering The History of Concrete from Magnolia Pictures is eyeing $450,000 on 160 screens in its third week for a cume above $1.2 million, making it the top-grossing platform-release documentary of 2026, Deadline reports. Venice Special Jury Prize winner NAZA posted a five-day gross of $86,000 since opening Wednesday on one screen at New York’s IFC Center, and Deadline says directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor have been threatened, so there were no Q&As. NAZA adds exclusive engagements in over 30 markets next week. Ketchup Entertainment’s Rolling Loud opened to an estimated $467,000 at 930 locations.
Cosmic Talents Opens London Office with New U.K.-Based Agent
Cosmic Talents, which represents leading international heads of department, is opening a London office led by Gabrielle de Cevins, who joins as the agency’s U.K.-based agent, Variety reports. De Cevins brings eight years of in-house production experience, including the last four at London-based film production company The Bureau, and will oversee representation of directors of photography, production designers, costume designers and editors across the U.K. market for features and commercials. She will work with Paris-based agents Marie Berg, Elodie Vongdara and Andréa Bernard. Berg, managing director and agent, said the office aims to strengthen the agency’s U.K. presence.
Box Office Top 20 — Weekend of October 2–4, 2026
| # | Title | Distributor | Weekend | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verity | Amazon MGM Studios | $32,618,776 | $32,618,776 |
| 2 | Resident Evil | Columbia Pictures | $12,500,000 | $124,894,895 |
| 3 | Heart of the Beast | Paramount Pictures | $11,000,000 | $38,399,111 |
| 4 | Primetime | A24 | $8,000,085 | $34,085,832 |
| 5 | Digger | Warner Bros. | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
| 6 | Forgotten Island | DreamWorks | $7,200,000 | $23,631,200 |
| 7 | Avengers Endgame: Encore | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | $4,400,000 | $36,226,985 |
| 8 | Drishyam: The Conclusion | — | $2,715,000 | $2,715,000 |
| 9 | Practical Magic 2 | Warner Bros. | $2,655,000 | $64,696,326 |
| 10 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | Sony Pictures Releasing | $2,450,000 | $954,476,970 |
| 11 | The Odyssey | Universal Pictures | $1,300,000 | $620,463,510 |
| 12 | Daniel and the Fiery Furnace | EKKL Entertainment | $663,000 | $7,583,431 |
| 13 | Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte | — | $563,400 | $563,400 |
| 14 | Beware Boiúna | N/A | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| 15 | Coyote vs. Acme | Ketchup Entertainment | $475,153 | $59,597,319 |
| 16 | The History of Concrete | — | $450,000 | $1,221,723 |
| 17 | Rolling Loud | Ketchup Entertainment | $354,093 | $354,093 |
| 18 | Linkin Park: Unshatter | Trafalgar Releasing | $336,100 | $680,400 |
| 19 | Insidious: Out of the Further | Sony Pictures Releasing | $310,000 | $65,758,995 |
| 20 | Moonlight 10th Anniversary | A24 | $301,155 | $301,155 |
Source: Box Office Mojo (estimates)
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