Tom Cruise's Digger is tracking a terrible $8 million opening weekend
The Alejandro G. Iñárritu film opens Friday. Tracking has fallen from $30 million to as little as $8 million, and the reviews are brutal.
Tom Cruise has a new movie opening Friday. Almost nobody is going to see it.
Digger, the R-rated satire from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, opens in theaters on October 2. On Wednesday, Page Six reported the film is tracking to make as little as $8 million to $12 million in its opening weekend.
That is a collapse. Early tracking from Box Office Theory had the film at $20 million to $29 million. NRG's tracking dropped to around $19 million. Variety then put it at $12 million to $15 million. Now it is $8 million to $12 million, per Page Six.
The numbers are rough on their own. They look worse next to the budget. The film reportedly cost at least $125 million to make.
The reviews
The review embargo lifted Tuesday morning. The top critics were not kind.
The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney wrote that the film is “so meta that you watch in excruciating weariness as it disappears up its own ass and then realize to your dismay that there's another eardrum-shattering hour left to endure.”
The New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski gave it a zero, a score he almost never hands out. The Boston Globe also gave it a zero, calling it “the worst movie of Tom Cruise's career.”
The film
Digger was supposed to be Cruise's awards play. It is his first non-franchise movie in nine years, after three Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a billionaire oil tycoon racing to prove he is humanity's savior after triggering a global environmental catastrophe. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Emma D'Arcy and Sophie Wilde co-star.
Back at CinemaCon in April, Cruise told theater owners, “My film family, you know I'm here for you, and I love you.”
What Warner Bros. says
Warner Bros. is leaning into the bad press. The studio rushed out a video on X urging audiences to “decide for yourself.” The clip opens with a movie influencer calling Digger an ambitious film that will divide audiences, then cuts to Cruise's oil baron shouting at his critics.
Boxoffice Pro analyst Daniel Loria said the film could open in a modest fifth place this weekend, performing more like a small specialty release than a Cruise tentpole. He argued it is unfair to compare the film with Cruise's big action franchises. Its style is closer to Iñárritu's Birdman, which won Best Picture. The problem is the price tag: Birdman cost $18 million.
What happens Friday is anyone's guess. The tracking says $8 million. The studio is asking you to decide for yourself.
