Is Digger a flop? Tom Cruise film suffers one of the worst openings

Tom Cruise's Digger suffers a painful $8 million North American debut as poor reviews and weak overseas sales put Warner Bros.' costly gamble under pressure

Tom Cruise's Digger stumbles despite its huge budget, with weak reviews and disappointing international sales

Tom Cruise's Digger crashes at the box office with $8 million opening

Updated on:

05 Oct 2026, 8:06 am

2 min read

Tom Cruise's Digger has had an abysmal start on the weekend at the box office. The movie collected $8 million in North America and $12 million in 74 foreign territories. With a worldwide opening of around $20 million, it has been one of Tom Cruise's poorest starts ever.

Tom Cruise's Digger faces huge financial challenge

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the political satire of global warming was marketed as an awards-season contender. Production costs are believed to have reached at least $125 million, and some estimates peg it at close to $150 million. Another $100 million was budgeted for marketing.

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The poor box office results followed negative criticism. Warner Bros. countered this trend with a 'decide for yourself' campaign, as opening weekend expectations were consistently downgraded. Critics branded the film as a forced climate change parody, though Tom Cruise’s over-the-top acting was more positively received.

It is especially tragic since Tom is one of the biggest draws internationally. He has had the most success in recent years through Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick. His previous failure was The Mummy, released in 2017. Tom Cruise's Digger was also intended to emulate the success achieved by the Warner Bros. movie, One Battle After Another, which also went on to win an Oscar for Best Picture. Digger has, however, proved disappointing commercially and critically.

The result is especially painful for Warner Bros., which spent at least $125 million on production

Tom Cruise's Digger has suffered a brutal opening weekend, grossing only $8 million in North America

Warner Bros. has similarly been unable to produce a film domestically that has made it to $100 million this year. However, its December film, Dune: Part III, is projected to cross this number. Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, the co-chairs of Warner Bros.'s Motion Picture Group, are due to exit the company soon, with mass layoffs looming.

Tom Cruise’s Digger fiasco might affect the kind of new launches the new company will produce going forward. According to him, Paramount does not have any experience working on big-budget auteur films, and that era seems to be over.

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Tom Cruise poses with David Beckham and royals at Digger premiere in London

Tom Cruise