The biggest movie flops of all time as Tom Cruise's polarising new project Digger is set to lose $245M - from John Carter and Practical Magic to Supergirl and The Lone Ranger

Things are not looking good for Tom Cruise's new film Digger which is now estimated to lose a staggering $245million in a historic career embarrassment for the star.

Alejandro G Iñárritu's critically panned satire grossed just $8million in US cinemas, with international sales of $12million from 74 countries during its opening weekend.

It has been reported this week that the movie needs $350million globally to break even because cinema owners get to keep about half of ticket sales.

Warner Bros. greenlit the film for $125million, but the budget soared to an estimated $180million after production went over schedule. The studio then spent another $100million on marketing. 

But the Cruise-fronted project isn't the first big movie that hasn't lived up to expectations...

John Carter (2012)

Back in 2012, Disney lost approximately $200million on its movie John Carter.

The science fiction action-adventure film was based on A Princess of Mars the classic 1912 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

It starred Taylor Kitsch as John Carter, the main protagonist and a Virginia Civil War captain, as well as Lynn Collins and Dominic West.

It is estimated that John Carter cost $250million to make and it is likely that Disney spent another $100million on marketing. 

It was estimated that the film took in no more than $184million at box offices worldwide, with cinema owners receiving about half of that total. 

Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe also had supporting roles in the films.

The Marvels (2023)

Back in 2023, Marvel was accused of 'lying' after claiming that their film The Marvels was 'the number-one movie in the world' – despite the box-office bomb making just $47million –  the lowest MCU opening of all time.

Avengers: Endgame earned almost ten times as much with a whopping $357million during its opening weekend three and a half years before.

In spite of this, Marvel decided to remain optimistic with its promotions.

'#TheMarvels have arrived. Don't miss the #1 movie in the world, now playing in theaters everywhere,' the franchise wrote on its official X account at the time. 

Fans were quick to protest Marvel's declaration, claiming the film was 'definitely not the number 1 movie' and that the studio was delusional. 

'Which world? Your own? Because it sure as hell ain't this one,' one user tweeted. 

''#1 movie in the world?' I knew that my optician's appointment was long overdue but thanks for reminding me,' another quipped.

Others felt that Marvel shouldn't be able to claim the number-one spot due to its low box office results. 

Supergirl (2026) 

Back in June, Supergirl flopped at the box office despite being pegged as one of the big releases of the year and costing $170million to produce.

After building excitement with her brief cameo in Superman, Milly Alcock's take on the famous heroine earned a mixed reception, with one critic even calling the film 'a dispiriting girl power disappointment'. 

The film's disappointing release was a huge setback for Warner Bros revamped DC film operations, which had a hopeful beginning last summer when Superman became the highest-grossing superhero movie of the year.

However, it follows a pattern of underwhelming sales for films of the same genre, after The Mandalorian and Grogu (Disney, Lucasfilm) and Masters of the Universe (Mattel Films) also suffered a similar fate.

Supergirl was no match for Toy Story 5 at the time after it opened with a near-record debut for an animated movie and remained at No1 at the box office with $70million in domestic ticket sales and another $89.1million overseas, according to studio estimates.

Supergirl opened with $38million in US and Canadian theaters. It added $30million in overseas markets.

The poor opening weekend for Supergirl put it behind the disappointing debuts of DC busts like The Flash ($55million in 2023) and The Green Lantern ($53million in 2011), and only barely ahead of Joker: Folie à Deux ($37.7million in 2024).

The original Practical Magic was a box office flop – grossing around $68million to $94million against a $60 – $75million production budget.

While it also received negative reviews from critics, it actually went on to become a cult classic as fans later on fell in love with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock's characters.

Practical Magic 2 was then released this year as viewers got to revisit the spooky witch story. 

The plot of the sequel, set over 25 years after the original film, is adapted from Alice Hoffman's 2021 sequel story, The Book of Magic.

It also starred Joey King and Maisie Williams, while Nicole reprised her role as Sally Owens and Sandra as her sister Gillian, who have been raised as witches and are typically at the centre of town gossip.

The film properly introduced the next generation of the family, Sandra's on-screen daughters Kylie and Antonia, played by Joey and Maisie respectively. 

The sequel also struggled commercially, debuting with a disappointing $30million domestically and $46million worldwide on a $75million budget.

The Lone Ranger (2013) 

The 2013 film The Lone Ranger was a real disappointment too in terms of numbers.

The film had an estimated production budget of $225million to $250million, plus an additional $150million spent on marketing.

However, it only brought in $89.3million domestically and $171.2million overseas. The Lone Ranger lost $190million as experts had feared.

The movie received poor reviews – holding a poor 31 per cent on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

The production budget ended up much bigger than originally thought due to bad weather conditions on set.

Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter starred in the film which was a reimagined, dark western origin story framed as a flashback.

Eden (2025)

Last year Sydney Sweeney suffered back-to-back box office flops with two of her films, Eden and Americana, following her American Eagle ad scandal.

The film starring the 29-year-old actress – Ron Howard's $50million-budget survival thriller Eden – debuted in 664 theaters and earned just $1million, according to Deadline. 

The film's disappointing box office performance may have been partly due to its lackluster reviews, as it currently holds a 55 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, despite its star studded-cast. 

Sydney had a dramatic make-under for her role as the real-life German settler Margret Wittmer in the movie, which also starred Ana de Armas and Jude Law. 

It came after her other film, Americana, made only $500,000 its opening weekend against a $9million budget, the weekend prior.

The box office failures came on the heels of Sydney's viral ad for American Eagle, which provoked a social media meltdown as frenzied critics compared it to 'Nazi propaganda' for playing on the phrase 'good genes' with a blonde, blue-eyed star. 

The 13th Warrior (1999)

The 13th Warrior, which was released back in 1999 was a major box office flop and  financial disaster.

The film earned about $61.6million globally but huge production costs and reshoots drove the budget to between $90million to $160million including marketing costs.

Studio financial losses were then estimated at roughly $129million.

The plot followed an exiled Arab ambassador who must join a band of Viking warriors to battle a supernatural enemy when a fortune-teller warns that they are doomed to fail without a 13th warrior. 

It starred Antonio Banderas and had director John McTiernan – known for blockbuster hits like Predator and Die Hard – on board. 

Cutthroat Island (1996) 

When Cutthroat Island was released in 1996 it ended up being another big box office flop. 

It cost around $98million to $115million to produce but grossed only about $10million to $16million worldwide.

The film follows Morgan Adams, the daughter of a pirate, who follows in her father's footsteps to find the remaining bits of a map to locate a treasure. 

However, she must first fight her uncle.

Michael Douglas was originally set to star alongside Geena Davis, but he quit after his role was reduced during script rewrites. 

He was replaced at the last minute by Matthew Modine, who lacked the same box-office pull. 

Madame Web (2024)

Back in 2024 Columbia Pictures' superhero adventure Madame Web flopped at the box office with an opening weekend take of just $15.1million.

The film opened on February 14, taking in an additional $8.2million on the two days that followed.

It took in just $25.7million from foreign markets, for a worldwide tally of $51.5million for its opening weekend, after star Dakota Johnson admitted she hadn't even gone to see it.

With the film budgeted at $80million, it had a very tough time turning a profit.

While Dakota Johnson made headlines throughout her press tour for her interviews, the nation's critics certainly didn't do her movie any favours.

Lightyear (2022)

Pixar's chief creative officer admitted in 2023 that the producers of the 2022 flop Lightyear 'asked too much of the audience'.

'We've done a lot of soul-searching about that because we all love the movie. We love the characters and the premise. I think probably what we've ended on in terms of what went wrong is that we asked too much of the audience,' Pixar's Peter Docter told The Wrap. 

The movie angered Toy Story fans after it was revealed that Tim Allen had been replaced with Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the grown-up tale. Further anger ensued over the inclusion of a lesbian kiss. 

The movie took a disappointing $226.4million in receipts against a $200million budget but almost certainly lost money when marketing costs are factored in.

By comparison, Toy Story 4, which featured Allen, generated over $1billion at the box office against the same budget.

A fifth movie has since been released. 

Ali (2001)

Ali – starring Will Smith – followed the story of boxer Muhammad Ali but it didn't perform well at the box office. 

The budget was around $107million to $118million but it grossed only about $58.2million domestically and $87.7million worldwide.

Columbia Pictures and Sony cited the movie as a major loss, estimated to have cost the studio tens of millions.

Christy (2025)

On the opening weekend, Sydney's film Christy, in which she plays Hall of Fame boxer Christy Martin, tanked at the box office after grossing a meager $1.3million.

The actress at the time found herself at the heart of an escalating storm.

It was sparked by her MAGA political leanings and exacerbated by a relationship with divisive record executive Scooter Braun.

Also around that time her involvement in a controversial American Eagle advertising campaign was leading to plenty of negative press.