Tom Cruise has become one of the most bankable movie stars in the world over the past few years, but the Mission: Impossible star may be looking at his first box office bomb in quite some time with Alejandro González Iñárritu's Digger, which arrives in theaters this weekend.
Though it wouldn't be fair to call the movie a critical disaster (it's hovering around 52% on Rotten Tomatoes), reviews have been mixed/negative, with one of the more positive verdicts describing the satirical black comedy as a "unique catastrophe."
Positive reviews can certainly help sell tickets, but in Digger's case, it may not have made much difference.
According to Variety, Digger looks set for a disastrous launch of $12 million to $15 million in North America (projections were at $18 million to $20 million but have been revised down).
"The film was greenlit at $125 million, but according to knowledgeable sources, the budget climbed to $160 million to $180 million after production went over schedule. A Warner Bros. spokesperson disputes those figures. Regardless, a movie of this size would need a debut near $40 million to justify its budget, per rival execs. Since exhibitors keep about half of ticket sales, and the studio spent another $100 million on marketing, Digger has a theatrical break-even point of roughly $350 million globally, according to executives with knowledge of similar films. A Warner Bros. spokesperson pushed back, saying the film’s break-even point is $300 million."
The movie might well perform better overseas, but either way, Digger is going to have its work cut out if it hopes to avoid becoming one of the biggest box office misfires of 2026.
Warner Bros. has now released a new promo for the movie, cleverly hitting back at negative reviews by asking audiences to decide for themselves this Friday.
A man. A plan. A meltdown. DIGGER. Only in theaters October 2. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu returns with his original film DIGGER, starring Tom Cruise in the title role. The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.
Cruise stars alongside Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons. Iñárritu directed from a screenplay by Iñárritu & Oscar-winners Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, story by Berman & Iñárritu and Jez Butterworth.
The film is produced by Iñárritu, Oscar nominee Mary Parent, Cruise, and executive produced by Joshua Grode.
Joining Iñárritu behind the camera are previous collaborators Oscar-winning director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki; editors Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirrione; Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West; Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi; and Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler; along with Oscar- winning production designer Dennis Gassner and production designer Richard Johnson, Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro, and composer Cosmo Sheldrake.