Tom Cruise Breaks His Silence on ‘Digger’ Becoming a Major Box Office Flop

Tom Cruise has spent decades convincing audiences that a night at the movies is worth the ticket price. Few stars have earned that kind of trust, which is why even his weaker releases have typically opened to solid crowds.

His latest project was supposed to be a different kind of gamble. ‘Digger,’ directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, casts Cruise as Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon whose drilling triggers a global catastrophe and who then tries to cast himself as humanity’s savior. Cruise wears heavy prosthetics and a bald cap, and the film marks his first original movie since 2017’s ‘American Made.’

The reaction at the box office has been brutal, and Cruise has now responded. On Saturday, October 3, the actor shared behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot and said he is proud of what the team created. He called the experience unforgettable, said he was honored to make the film alongside talented artists, and thanked the cast and crew for their effort and joy.

DIGGER is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists. Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable and I’m so proud of what we created. 1/3

— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) October 3, 2026

The message landed just as the numbers came in. Warner Bros.’ satire opened to about $8 million from 3,321 North American theaters, placing fifth and giving Cruise his lowest opening since ‘Lions for Lambs’ debuted to $6.7 million in 2007. Overseas, the film added about $12 million from 74 markets, for a global debut of roughly $20 million.

The budget makes that start look even worse. Trade reports put the production cost between $160 million and $180 million, with another $100 million or so spent on marketing, though other outlets cite lower figures between $125 million and $150 million. Tracking services had reportedly pegged the opening near $30 million months earlier, and Warner Bros. had expected a debut in the low teens.

The weekend’s winner was a very different kind of movie. Anne Hathaway’s ‘Verity’ opened above $30 million, which helped make the contrast hard to ignore.

Reviews did little to help. ‘Digger’ holds a 51% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cruise’s first “rotten” film since ‘The Mummy’ in 2017, along with a 45 on Metacritic. Audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore, though the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is a more forgiving 72%.

Cruise’s performance has been the most praised part of the film. Critics have singled out his over-the-top commitment, including a 10-minute climate-change monologue that nearly every review mentions. The film’s humor and tone, however, have drawn more complaints than cheers.

Cruise has been working hard to sell it. He pushed the makeup team to cut the application time for his character from 6 hours to under an hour, and he spoke at length about his career at a Los Angeles screening event earlier in the week. Warner Bros. even ran “decide for yourself” ads after the reviews landed.

The result is an uncomfortable contrast with Cruise’s recent run. When ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ opened with $63 million domestically over 3 days, he celebrated with a statement of his own. That film was the biggest launch of the 8-film franchise, and ‘Digger’ now sits at the other end of the spectrum.

The timing also matters for the studio. ‘Digger’ is Warner Bros.’ last release as a standalone company before its merger with Paramount, a transition that makes every box office result a talking point about what kind of movies the combined studio will back. Box office analysts have suggested the film could lose well over $100 million theatrically.

A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released. In theaters October 2. https://t.co/kTEeFZI14E

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026

None of that has changed Cruise’s public stance. He is framing ‘Digger’ as a creative achievement rather than a commercial one, which is a familiar playbook for a star who has always positioned himself as an advocate for the big-screen experience. Whether the film finds a second life with awards voters or audiences on home video remains to be seen.

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