Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A new movie called Digger opens this weekend. Tom Cruise is the star. He plays an old, sick oil boss from Texas.
The director is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. He has won many Oscars. The movie is a funny story about the end of the world.
The movie cost a lot of money. Some reports say about 160 million dollars. Experts think it will make only 12 to 15 million dollars in the first weekend.
Another movie, Verity, also opens. It stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson. It may win the weekend.
- movie
- a story shown on a screen in a cinema
- star
- a famous actor in a movie
- director
- the person who guides how a movie is made
- oil
- a thick liquid used to make fuel
- weekend
- Saturday and Sunday
- cost
- the money you pay for something
- expert
- a person who knows a lot about a topic
- open
- to start being shown in cinemas
Level 2 — Elementary
Tom Cruise's new film Digger opens in cinemas this weekend, and experts are worried. The movie is a satire, which is a funny story that makes fun of serious things. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an old and very sick oil boss from Texas who must save the world from a disaster.
The director is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, a five-time Oscar winner. The film is made by Warner Bros. It was planned to cost 125 million dollars, but reports say the cost grew to between 160 and 180 million.
A Warner Bros spokesperson said the movie needs about 300 million dollars around the world to break even. Some reports say it needs 350 million. Experts think the first weekend in North America will bring only 12 to 15 million dollars.
The reviews are mixed. The film has a score of 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. A thriller called Verity, with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is expected to take first place with about 20 million dollars.
- satire
- a story that makes fun of people or society
- disaster
- a sudden event that causes great harm
- budget
- the amount of money planned for something
- break even
- to earn as much money as you spent
- spokesperson
- a person who speaks for a company
- mixed reviews
- some good and some bad opinions
- thriller
- an exciting story with danger or mystery
- tracking
- a way of guessing how well a movie will do
Level 3 — Intermediate
Tom Cruise's first leading role in nearly a decade that is not an action sequel arrives this weekend with an unusually gloomy forecast. Digger, a satire from five-time Oscar winner Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, casts Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a decrepit Texas oil tycoon who must rescue the world from an ecological catastrophe. Emmanuel Lubezki shot it in VistaVision.
The financial picture is the main worry. Warner Bros approved the film at about 125 million dollars, but reports put the final budget between 160 and 180 million. A studio spokesperson said the break-even point is roughly 300 million dollars worldwide, while some outlets cite 350 million.
Against that, tracking suggests an opening of only 12 to 15 million dollars in North America, and reviews are mixed, with a 51 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Trade writers have begun to describe it as a candidate for the biggest flop of 2026.
Meanwhile the romantic thriller Verity, adapted from a Colleen Hoover novel and starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is predicted to win the weekend with about 20 million dollars.
- decrepit
- old and in very poor condition
- tycoon
- a rich and powerful businessperson
- catastrophe
- a terrible disaster
- break-even point
- the sales needed to cover all costs
- flop
- a complete failure
- adapted
- changed so it can be used in a new form
- gloomy
- without hope or cheer
- approve
- to officially agree to something
Level 4 — Advanced
Tom Cruise has spent decades as the guarantor of a certain kind of event movie, which is what makes the dismal forecasts for Digger so striking. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's satire, photographed in VistaVision by Emmanuel Lubezki, casts the star as Digger Rockwell, a balding and half-dead Texas oil magnate charged with averting an ecological catastrophe.
The arithmetic is unforgiving. Warner Bros greenlit the picture at about 125 million dollars, yet reports say the budget swelled to between 160 and 180 million. A studio spokesperson puts the worldwide break-even at roughly 300 million, and other outlets say 350 million, while tracking points to an opening of 12 to 15 million dollars in North America.
Critics have been no kinder. The film sits at 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a respectable figure for an auteur but a poor one for a project that needs mass appeal, and commentators have already begun nominating it as the year's costliest bomb.
The weekend's likelier winner is Verity, a psychological thriller drawn from a Colleen Hoover bestseller and starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, projected at about 20 million dollars. It would be a quietly ironic result: a modestly budgeted adaptation outdrawing a prestige spectacle.
- guarantor
- a person or thing that makes sure of a result
- dismal
- depressing and very poor
- magnate
- a person with great wealth and influence in an industry
- avert
- to prevent something bad from happening
- greenlight
- to give official approval to make a project
- swell
- to grow larger
- auteur
- a film director with a strong personal style
- outdraw
- to attract a larger audience than another
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