In brief
Tom Cruise’s newest venture, the black‑comedy Digger, has already plummeted at the box office, with analysts forecasting a loss of around $245m. The film’s budget and marketing costs hover near $280m, while it has earned a paltry $35m globally. Despite Cruise’s track record with blockbusters, Digger stands in stark contrast to recent franchise successes. Warner Bros estimates the break‑even point to be $300m, while Variety cites $350m. The disappointing performance rivals historic flops such as Cutthroat Island and John Carter.
Hollywood analysts have warned that Tom Cruise’s satirical black comedy Digger could lose about $245m (£185m) as it continues to under‑perform at the box office.
The film’s ticket sales dropped roughly 60% in its second weekend. With a worldwide gross of only $35m (£26m), the total revenue is dwarfed by its estimated $280m ($211m) budget and marketing spend.
Cruise, meanwhile, said last week that he “never thought of movies when I'm making them [in terms of] opening weekend,” and asserted that he is focused on creating films that “hopefully will translate, last and evolve.”
If the current trend holds, Digger could rank with historic Hollywood blunders such as 1995’s Cutthroat Island, 2002’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash, 2005’s Sahara and 2012’s John Carter—all of which lost more than $100m.
Other recent failures, like Mars Needs Moms (2011), Amsterdam (2022), The 13th Warrior (1999), The Marvels (2023) and Speed Racer (2008), have also chased similar nine‑figure losses.
The downturn for Digger is in sharp contrast to the box‑office triumphs of Cruise’s recent franchise outings, such as Top Gun and Mission: Impossible.
Variety reports that Digger is expected to finish its run with about $50m (£38m) worldwide. The film would need a minimum of $300m (£227m) to break even, according to a Warner Bros spokesman, after accounting for the theater’s cut, marketing spend and potential awards campaign.
Digger marks Warner Bros’ final independent release before its takeover by Paramount, and it is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, renowned for his work on Birdman, Babel and Revenant.
Critical reception has been broadly negative, prompting the studio to launch a new marketing push that urges audiences to “decide for yourself.”
Parallel economic woes are evident elsewhere, as Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, a sequel to the Oscar‑winning The Social Network, also faltered at the U.K. and U.S. opening weekends, taking a mere $5.5m (£4.1m) in the U.S.
Globally, The Social Reckoning gathered around $9m (£6.8m), underlining the industry’s broader struggles.
While the studio campaigns continue, the stakes are high: a dramatic loss would add to a growing list of Hollywood films that have backfired financially.
For further details, see our reports on Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros and other related stories.
