‘Digger’ CinemaScore Is In, and It Adds a New Twist to Tom Cruise’s Rough Weekend

Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger‘ was supposed to be an event. The satirical dark comedy from Alejandro G. Iñárritu was long pitched as an awards play, and Cruise transformed himself with prosthetics into Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon known as the most powerful man in the world. It is a role about as far from Ethan Hunt as the star has ever gotten.

Critics have been far from united on the result. The film sits at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes from 236 reviews, which makes it Cruise’s first rotten score since 2017’s ‘The Mummy.’ Warner Bros. responded with an ad that asked moviegoers to decide for themselves, pairing positive and negative reactions side by side.

Now audiences have made their call. CinemaScore announced on X on Oct. 3 that the grade is in, and ‘Digger’ earned a C+. The post carried the film’s poster, which shows Cruise in a cowboy hat with a shovel beside the tagline “Digg. Or Die,” and notes the film was shot on VistaVision and is playing in IMAX.

#TheGrade is in and it's a C+ for #Digger.https://t.co/h6K6WjnUlV pic.twitter.com/SOjdOKr6RT

— CinemaScore (@CinemaScore) October 3, 2026

The audience response on Rotten Tomatoes is somewhat warmer than the critics’. The Popcornmeter currently reads 71% from more than 250 verified ratings, a gap of almost 20 points above the Tomatometer. Even so, it trails the 88% audience score of Cruise’s last film, ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.’

The box office picture is where the C+ matters most. ‘Digger’ earned $1.2 million in Thursday previews before opening in 3,321 theaters, and Deadline’s Friday evening update projected a $10 million weekend. Film Updates reported tracking in the $6 million to $9 million range, while one early opening-day estimate had it heading for about $7 million.

Any of those numbers would be Cruise’s lowest opening since 2007’s ‘Lions for Lambs.’ It is a steep drop from the $18 million to $20 million that was tracking before reviews landed. Warner Bros. had been projecting between $12 million and $15 million heading into the weekend.

The budget makes the math harder. The film was greenlit at $125 million, but reports put the final cost at between $160 million and $180 million after production ran over schedule. Variety has put its break-even point at around $350 million once marketing is included.

Meanwhile, the competition is having a much better weekend. Anne Hathaway’s ‘Verity’ earned $14.5 million on Friday, including previews, and is on track for a start of about $32 million. It is a stark contrast for two films that both landed middling reviews.

The timing is awkward for the studio. ‘Digger’ reunited Cruise with Warner Bros. for the first time since ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and marked Iñárritu’s first English-language feature since ‘The Revenant.’ It also arrived the same weekend that Warner film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were reported to be leaving the company.

A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released.

In theaters October 2. pic.twitter.com/kTEeFZI14E

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026

A C+ is unlikely to help the film’s legs, and the weak critical scores have already raised questions about Cruise’s Oscar chances. But with a Popcornmeter in the 70s and a star who is still the center of the conversation, ‘Digger’ may yet find a cult audience after its box office stumble.

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