Despite the much-anticipated return of a prominent actor to serious roles, an acclaimed two-time Oscar-winning director, and extensive publicity comparable to historic events like the moon landing, the film titled “Digger” appears to be heading towards becoming one of the most significant box-office failures of the year.
According to reports from Variety, the dark comedy directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and featuring Tom Cruise experienced a notable surge in production costs, escalating from an initial budget of $125 million US to a range of $160-180 million US. This increase set the break-even point at approximately $350 million US, factoring in marketing expenses. However, Warner Bros. disputed this figure, claiming their break-even threshold is closer to $300 million US.
Despite high expectations, the movie only managed to earn $1.2 million US from previews. As per the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. anticipates a meager domestic weekend revenue of $12-15 million US, marking a disappointing start for the studio amidst a year already marked by underperforming releases. Following a series of unsuccessful films such as “The Bride!”, “Supergirl”, “The End of Oak Street”, and “Practical Magic 2”, “Digger” could potentially culminate in being one of Warner Bros.’s most significant financial letdowns of the decade.
The film’s narrative, revolving around an oil magnate assigned with rectifying a disaster caused by his own drilling activities, inherently carried risks. Opting out of the festival circuit, this R-rated dark comedy relied on generating positive word-of-mouth and leveraging the star power of Tom Cruise to draw audiences to cinemas.
By sidestepping early critical reviews and targeting Cruise enthusiasts directly, the strategy seemed logical, especially considering that this marked the actor’s first non-franchise film since the 2017 biopic “American Made.”
Directed by Iñárritu, known for his past successes like “Birdman” and “The Revenant,” “Digger” faced early backlash from critics before its release. Despite some positive feedback, including CBC film critic Jackson Weaver’s praise for its unconventional nature, many critics foresaw challenges in recouping the film’s experimental budget.
This setback places Warner Bros. in a precarious position, following a successful 2025 but encountering modest achievements in 2026 with films like “Wuthering Heights”, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy”, and “Evil Dead Burn”. With no Warner movie surpassing $100 million US domestically this year, the failure of “Digger” could potentially align it with other major 2026 flops like “Melania” and “Desert Warrior.”
Although “Digger” may hold potential value for Warner Bros., especially for streaming platforms due to Cruise’s strong brand recognition, its disappointing performance coincides with Warner Bros.’s upcoming acquisition by Paramount. The film’s failure also coincides with reports of the potential departure of Warner’s film executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy post-merger, raising questions about the conglomerate’s future artistic decisions in light of taking bold thematic risks that did not resonate with audiences.