Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's end-of-the-world climate satire starring Tom Cruise, opened to $8 million domestically and $21 million worldwide in its first weekend. Against a production budget of $173 million and roughly $100 million in marketing, the film is on track to lose somewhere between $200 million and $250 million by the end of its run, according to The Wrap.
Warner Bros. fully financed the film without partners, bearing the entire loss. An insider described the result to The Wrap as "a shocking failure." The studio declined to comment.
Cruise plays a paunchy, balding oil magnate whose drilling operations trigger a global environmental catastrophe, a role requiring extensive prosthetics. Pre-release tracking had put the opening near $30 million. The final number was less than a third of that. The film holds a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a C+ CinemaScore, though audiences rated it 71%.
The result lands in the context of other ambitious Warner Bros. bets. Sinners grossed $327 million and won four Oscars. One Battle After Another took six, including Best Picture. Digger arrived in their shadow.
Not everyone is filing it under failure. Anne Hathaway posted a five-star Letterboxd review on October 7, her first written review on the platform. Jane Fonda called it brilliant. Hathaway is set to co-star with Cruise in Days of Thunder 2, which begins production next year.
The film has its defenders. Whether they can move the needle in week two remains the question.
