Tom Cruise's Digger Faces $245m Loss After Box-Office Collapse
Tom Cruise's Digger is heading for an estimated loss of around $245m (£185m) after a sharp second-weekend fall, The Guardian reported on 12 October 2026. The film stars Cruise and was directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
The R-rated environmental satire took an estimated $3.2m in North America in its second weekend, down 60% from its $8m opening. Its domestic total — domestic means the United States and Canada — stands at $14.4m, with $35.3m worldwide to date.
That leaves a long way to go. The film is projected to finish with about $50m globally, far below what is needed to realise a profit.
Production costs are estimated at $160m to $180m, well above the original $125m budget. Warner Bros spent another $100m on marketing Digger, with a further $15m potentially set aside for an awards-season push.
Cinemas keep roughly half of ticket sales, so a film must earn about twice its combined costs to break even. On that maths, Variety estimates Digger would need about $350m at the box office to cover costs, while a Warner Bros spokesperson puts the break-even point at $300m, implying a $150m production spend.
Digger began its global rollout on 30 September, with cinema releases in the United States and the United Kingdom following a star-studded royal premiere unveiled by Cruise, according to Reuters. It opened to $8m in North America and lost the weekend to Verity, The Hollywood Reporter reported. An opening below $10m was tracking as potentially Cruise's lowest in nearly two decades.
Variety linked the result to poor reviews and negative word of mouth. Guardian chief film critic Peter Bradshaw gave the film two stars.
A week earlier the outlook already looked weak. On 5 October, The Guardian reported a possible $150m loss when Digger had taken $20m globally. The updated totals show how quickly that estimate has moved.
What makes this stand out is scale. A $245m shortfall would sit alongside Cutthroat Island at $222m adjusted for inflation, Mortal Engines at $224m and The Marvels at $205m to $250m.
The timing adds pressure for Warner Bros. Digger is the studio's last release before its takeover by David Ellison's Skydance. Co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are due to leave ahead of that change.
