Digger is heading toward a record-breaking box-office collapse after ticket sales plunged by 60 per cent during its second weekend in cinemas.
The critically derided satire, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, opened to only $8 million (£6 million) in the United States. Its international release across 74 countries added a further $12 million (£9 million).
A steep second-weekend drop has lifted the film’s domestic gross to $14.4 million, while its worldwide haul now stands at $35.3 million.
According to industry estimates, Digger could lose as much as $245 million (£185 million) during its theatrical run, with its final global box-office total projected to reach only about $50 million.
Variety reports that the movie would need to generate approximately $350 million worldwide to break even, since cinemas typically retain around half of ticket revenue.
Warner Bros. originally approved Digger with a $125 million budget, but production overruns pushed the cost to an estimated $180 million. The studio also spent a further $100 million on marketing, with Cruise leading an extensive promotional campaign featuring months of teasers and social media activity.
Digger is heading toward a historic box-office failure after second-weekend ticket sales fell by 60 per cent
If the current projections prove accurate, Digger’s estimated $245 million loss would place it among the costliest box-office disasters ever recorded.
Disney’s 2012 release John Carter currently holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest film flop, having reportedly lost $161 million.
The studio suffered another major setback the following year when The Lone Ranger recorded losses of around $160 million.
Renny Harlin’s 1995 pirate adventure Cutthroat Island is also remembered as one of Hollywood’s most expensive failures. The film earned just $16 million after being made for an estimated $100 million.
After adjusting for inflation, that loss is equivalent to approximately $105 million. The movie’s commercial failure also contributed to the bankruptcy of its production company, Carolco Pictures.
Cruise has experienced major flops before. His 2007 political thriller Lions for Lambs underperformed despite costing only $35 million, while his 2017 attempt to revive The Mummy franchise reportedly lost $95 million.
Digger has also carried a significant awards-season price tag. The film was viewed as a potential vehicle for Cruise to secure his first competitive Academy Award, and industry insiders estimate Warner Bros. may have spent about $15 million on its Oscar campaign.
It is one of the few awards-oriented films Cruise has made in nearly three decades. The project was directed by four-time Oscar winner Iñárritu, whose acclaimed credits include Birdman and The Revenant.
The satirical black comedy casts Cruise as a wealthy oil tycoon who triggers an environmental catastrophe before attempting to convince the world that he alone can rescue it.
Tom Cruise’s Digger saw its second-weekend ticket sales fall 60 per cent, taking its total to $14.4 million in the US and $35.3 million worldwide
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Warner Bros. initially approved Digger for $125 million, but production delays raised the estimated budget to $180 million, followed by another $100 million in marketing costs
Despite the film’s commercial troubles, some Hollywood insiders believe Cruise could still be in contention for his first competitive Oscar nomination—and possibly a win.
The actor was presented with an honorary Academy Award last year in recognition of his four-decade career in Hollywood.
Awards site Gold Derby experts currently have Cruise in fourth for a Best Actor nomination (with odds at 63 per cent) but caution the 2027 category is a hotly contested race with Andrew Scott (Elsinore), John Malkovich (Wild Horse Nine) and Matt Damon (The Odyssey) all thought to be shoo-ins for a nod.
As the first box office numbers trickled in, Warner Bros. tested out a new marketing strategy for Digger.
The social media accounts for the movie are leaning into the divisive reaction, reposting any positive fan review it can find and adding thunderous replies in the style of Cruise’s oil tycoon character such as ‘HIT ‘EM WITH THE HARD TRUTH.’
But one post which took direct aim at US critics and their scathing reviews has been deleted by the studio.
Last month, as the critical reviews rolled in, an online ad was shared on X which showed Cruise as Digger Rockwell saying, ‘America has stood beside the world in its darkest of hours,’ to which Riz Ahmed’s character shoots back, ‘Not any more’.
The ad then flashed up a succession of critic quotes alongside a flag representing the critic’s country.
The first from a Mexican YouTuber who called the film ‘Epic, Extraordinary and Biting’, was followed by a quote from US site Playlist which called the film ‘Grotesque, Deliberately Tacky’.
There was also a line from a French critic who declared the film ‘a Gem of Intelligence’, followed by The New York Post calling it ‘An Unintentionally Bad Movie’.
The ad concluded with Cruise’s character declaring, ‘You decide which!’
As of Monday the ad was no longer available on X. Reactions to the post remain on the site though with one fan deciding: ‘a film’s marketing calling out how dumb Americans are is such a beast mode move man, I might have to watch it now!’
‘They’re saying Americans are too dumb for DIGGER. Prove the Europeans wrong and go to the movies. It’s your patriotic duty,’ added another.
‘Holy s*** they’re straight up calling out americans for being the only people who didn’t like the movie,’ said one more.
It’s an interesting strategy for the movie, which contrary to the ad has not performed particularly well overseas.
