“Digger” will go down in box office history for all the wrong reasons.
Tom Cruise and director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s R-rated environmental satire is tracking to lose $245 million in its theatrical run, according to knowledgeable sources. It will wind up as one of the biggest flops, not just of the year but potentially of all time.
After “Digger” opened last weekend to $8 million domestically and $20 million globally, Warner Bros. was primed to lose between $150 million to $200 million theatrically. The studio is now bracing for a larger write-down after ticket sales for the movie declined by 60% in its second weekend, bringing its tally to $14.4 million domestically and $35.3 million globally. That’s despite the best efforts of Hollywood stars, including Anne Hathaway, Jane Fonda, Guillermo del Toro and Mandy Patinkin, who came to the defense of “Digger” and have been encouraging audiences to go to theaters.
“Digger” is expected to end its box office run with roughly $50 million globally. For reference, the movie needs $350 million globally to break even because theater owners get to keep about half of ticket sales. A Warner Bros. spokesperson had pushed back, saying the film’s break-even point is $300 million.
“Digger,” an offbeat dark comedy starring Cruise as a wealthy oil tycoon whose company causes a potential catastrophe, was always a risky proposition as a rare big-budget, starry original tentpole in today’s unforgiving box office landscape. Warner Bros. greenlit the film for $125 million, but the budget soared to $160 million to $180 million after production went over schedule. The studio spent another $100 million on global marketing efforts. Sources say those figures don’t include the studio’s award spend. A movie like “Digger,” which boasts a major star and acclaimed director, would have commanded an Oscar campaign around $15 million, but those efforts could be scaled back given the film’s frosty reception. (Reviews for “Digger” were so bad that Warner Bros. ran social media spots that encouraged moviegoers to “decide for yourself.”)
Most movies don’t earn a profit purely from their theatrical release, although box office dollars are important because they dictate downstream deals for TV, Pay 1 and streaming. Profitability for the studio will take even longer because Cruise has a deal that allows him to earn a percentage of revenues before the studio recoups any costs.
“Digger,” the studio’s last standalone release before merging with Paramount, extends a dismal year for Warner Bros. Theatrical losses have been piling from commercial disasters such as “The Bride” and “Supergirl.” Warner co-chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who departed the company last Friday as “Digger” landed on the big screen, enjoyed a historic box office run in 2025 with hits including “Sinners,” “A Minecraft Movie” and “Weapons.” But after the duo pushed several big swings into this calendar year, not a single film has managed to cross $100 million domestically. Warner Bros.’ theatrical fortunes should rebound in December when Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part III,” starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, lands on the big screen.