Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s last true box office guarantees. Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible films turned him into the face of the big-screen experience. That is why the Tom Cruise Digger box office story is so shocking: his new film is heading for one of the worst opening weekends of his career.
Digger, the R-rated black comedy from Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, opened in 3,321 North American theaters on Friday. The early numbers, however, are brutal: a soft $1.2 million from Thursday previews, roughly $2 million on Friday proper, an opening day around $3.25 to $4 million, and a weekend tracking between $7 million and $10 million.
For a movie that reportedly cost $160 million to $180 million to make, those figures land well below even the gloomiest studio expectations.
Tom Cruise Digger Box Office Projections Kept Sliding
The warning signs, however, appeared weeks ago. Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast originally pointed to a $20 million to $30 million debut. Then the reviews landed, and the numbers started falling.
Tracking then slipped to the $18 million to $20 million range, and Warner Bros. cut its own projection to $12 million to $15 million, per Variety. Now the film may not even reach $10 million. If it finishes around $7 million, it would be Cruise’s weakest opening since 2007’s Lions for Lambs.
The Thursday previews told the story early, with Deadline calling the $1.2 million haul soft everywhere. For comparison, One Battle After Another earned $3.1 million in previews before opening to $22 million.
Tom Cruise at San Diego Comic-Con. Photo by Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Anne Hathaway’s Verity Crushes Digger at the Box Office
The weekend’s other big release made the contrast even more painful. Verity, the erotic thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, opened the same weekend and left Digger in the dust.
In contrast, the Colleen Hoover adaptation earned $4.5 million in previews, nearly four times Digger‘s haul. It then pulled in roughly $15 million on Friday and should finish the weekend near $33 million, taking the No. 1 spot domestically.
Anne Hathaway in New York City. Photo: Jay Dixit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
So while Cruise’s $180 million epic may struggle to crack $10 million, Hathaway’s thriller is cruising to a comfortable win.
What Is Digger About, Anyway?
The film was always a bold swing. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a blowhard oil tycoon billed as the most powerful man in the world, who scrambles to pose as humanity’s savior after his company triggers an ecological disaster.
The cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. It is Iñárritu’s first English-language feature since The Revenant and Cruise’s first Warner Bros. film since 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu at Cannes 2025. Photo: Martin Kraft / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Why the Tom Cruise Digger Box Office Math Looks Impossible
Meanwhile, the budget is the real killer here. The film was greenlit at $125 million, but reports say production overruns pushed the final cost to between $160 million and $180 million. Variety has put the break-even point at roughly $350 million once marketing is included.
As a result, with a C+ CinemaScore and just 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is unlikely to enjoy strong legs. The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney called it “dead and buried,” while Variety’s Owen Gleiberman found it too stuffed with self-importance to connect.
Cruise Defends the Film as Hollywood Reacts
Despite the grim numbers, Cruise is not giving up. On Saturday morning, he took to X to share behind-the-scenes photos and thank the cast and crew.
“Digger is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists,” he wrote. “Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable.”
In addition, director Guillermo del Toro defended the film on Friday, comparing its divisive reception to The Big Lebowski and The King of Comedy, both later reappraised as classics.
Still, the timing could not be worse for Warner Bros., which is coming off an already rough year at the multiplex.
What Happens Next for Digger?
The theatrical run, however, looks close to over before it began. A $7 million to $10 million opening against a $160 million-plus budget leaves almost no path to profitability in theaters. International grosses could soften the blow, but the math remains daunting.
On the other hand, the film may still find a second life. Its audience score sits in the 70s, and if del Toro’s comparison holds, Digger could become a cult favorite years from now.
For now, though, this is a historic stumble for one of cinema’s biggest stars. The question is no longer whether Digger will lose money, but how much. Is this just a bad weekend, or has the era of the $180 million original comedy officially ended? Tell us in the comments.
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Sources: Just Jared (via Deadline), ComingSoon.net, CineCorner UK (via Variety)
