Digger on course for $245m loss after box office collapse
Estimates suggest the eco satire starring Tom Cruise could join the list of top turkeys, including Cutthroat Island and The Marvels
Digger, the ambitious eco-fable starring Tom Cruise and directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, is heading for an even worse financial outcome than previously thought, with reports suggesting it will lose around $245m (£185m), placing it among the biggest disasters in movie history.
According to a report in Variety, Digger’s estimated second weekend revenue in North America of $3.2m is a 60% drop on its opening weekend figure of $8m, meaning its current domestic gross is $14.4m, for a global total of $35.3m, with a projected final box office total of around $50m worldwide.
Though precise figures are not available, Variety estimates that Digger’s production costs are $160m-180m (well over the original budget of $125m), with another $100m spent on marketing the film. Another $15m was potentially on hand for awards-season marketing, but this is likely to be scaled back after the film’s failure. Given that cinemas keep around half the revenue of ticket sales, Variety estimates the film would need to make around $350m to cover costs. (A spokesperson for Digger’s producing studio Warner Bros, says that break-even point is $300m, suggesting a production spend of $150m.)
A $245m loss would put Digger on a par with such legendary turkeys as Cutthroat Island ($222m loss, adjusted for inflation), Mortal Engines ($224m adjusted) and The Marvels ($205-$250m adjusted).
Reaction to the film has likely played a key role in its underperformance, with critical opinion radically divided. In the Guardian, chief film critic Peter Bradshaw called it “an exasperatingly shallow, laborious, self-congratulatory satire” in a two-star review, while Guardian Australia’s deputy culture editor Sian Cain took the opposite position, describing it as “a masterpiece”. Warner Bros, whose last release this is before its takeover by David Ellison’s Skydance, tried to play into the controversy with a post-release advertising campaign quoting its negative notices, but it seems to have had little effect.
So far, 2026 has been a disappointing year for Warner Bros, as it prepares for new ownership, with poorly performing releases such as Supergirl and The Bride! and co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy due to leave ahead of the takeover. This contrasts with a successful 2025, in which releases such as A Minecraft Movie, Sinners and F1 propelled it to the second most successful studio, behind Disney.
Elsewhere, the Aaron Sorkin-directed The Social Reckoning also failed to live up to expectations on its first weekend, taking an estimated $5.5m at the North American box office and $9m globally. The sequel to The Social Network, which stars Jeremy Strong as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen, was comprehensively beaten by Jessica Chastain horror The Other Mommy, which led the North American box office with an estimated $27.5m, part of a global take of $45.2m.
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