Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Is Headed for One of Hollywood’s Costliest Box Office Flops

Tom Cruise has spent decades as the safest bet in Hollywood. Even his poorly reviewed movies have tended to open decently, and his films have grossed more than $14 billion across 53 titles, according to Deadline.

So when Warner Bros. backed a strange, expensive dark comedy from an Oscar-winning auteur, it seemed like a gamble the studio could afford. ‘Digger‘ was supposed to be Cruise’s big creative swing, and an awards play to boot.

Instead, it may go down as one of the biggest box office disasters in recent memory. Deadline, claims that ‘Digger’ is set to lose Warner Bros. more than $150 million, and the numbers suggest that estimate is not far off.

‘Digger’ opened on October 2 in roughly 3,300 North American theaters and earned just $8 million domestically. Overseas, it pulled in another $12 million from 74 markets, for a global start of only $20 million. That is Cruise’s lowest opening since 2007’s ‘Lions for Lambs,’ which debuted to $6.7 million, and it landed well below the $12 million to $15 million that Warner Bros. had expected.

Audiences were not kind either. The film earned a C+ CinemaScore, and it holds roughly 51% to 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cruise’s first “rotten” film since ‘The Mummy’ in 2017. It opened in fifth place at the domestic box office, per The A.V. Club.

The real problem is the price tag. ‘Digger’ was officially budgeted at $125 million, but a long shoot at Leavesden in the UK pushed the net cost to around $160 million, while Variety reports it may have reached as much as $180 million. Add roughly $100 million in global marketing, and Deadline’s analysis puts Warner Bros.’ total bill at about $275 million.

Against that, the studio is projected to bring in about $127 million from theatrical, home entertainment and television revenue, assuming the film reaches roughly $50 million worldwide and that premium VOD gives it a bump. That leaves a loss of about $148 million, and the number could climb if home video underperforms. Warner Bros. has reportedly put its theatrical break-even point at around $300 million, while IndieWire cites roughly $350 million.

For perspective, Consequence points out that ‘The Mummy’ carried a budget of about $195 million but still grossed more than $409 million worldwide, a mark ‘Digger’ is unlikely to approach. The Playlist suggests Warner Bros. may now be holding a $150 million reminder of why studios are wary of films like this.

On paper, the pairing was a prestige play. The film stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a wealthy oil tycoon who must prevent a global catastrophe he caused, and it comes from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the Oscar winner behind ‘Birdman’ and ‘The Revenant.’ The supporting cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.

Cruise is barely recognizable in a bodysuit and prosthetics, and he skips the ‘Mission: Impossible’ stunts that usually sell his films. Reviews were deeply divided, with some critics praising the performance as bold and electric while others found the satire bloated and exhausting. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Warner Bros. has tried several marketing approaches, including an ad pointing to warmer reviews from French critics.

Cruise himself has not walked away from the film. After the opening, he took to social media to share behind-the-scenes photos and thank the cast and crew, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026

The timing adds another layer. ‘Digger’ is the last film Warner Bros. released before being fully absorbed into Paramount Skydance, and Mandatory reports that David Ellison declined to honor the contracts of studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who greenlit the project.

Whether ‘Digger’ finds a second life on premium VOD remains to be seen. For now, it stands as a cautionary tale about what happens when a star’s loyal audience is asked to follow him somewhere stranger and far more expensive than usual.

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