Key facts
- Warner Bros.'s film 'Digger' is projected to lose at least $125 million.
- The movie's production budget increased to $160-180 million.
- The film earned $1.2 million in previews.
- Warner Bros. predicts 'Digger' will earn $12-15 million domestically this weekend.
- The film stars Tom Cruise and is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Warner Bros.'s latest film release, 'Digger,' starring Tom Cruise, is poised to be one of the year's biggest box-office disasters, with projections indicating a potential loss of at least $125 million. The R-rated black comedy, directed by two-time Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, saw its production costs escalate from an initial budget of $125 million to between $160-180 million. Including marketing expenses, the film would need to earn around $350 million to break even, though Warner Bros. stated their break-even point is closer to $300 million.
'Digger' earned only $1.2 million in previews and is predicted by Warner Bros. to gross $12-15 million domestically in its opening weekend. This follows a string of underperforming films for the studio, including 'The Bride!', 'Supergirl,' 'The End of Oak Street,' and 'Practical Magic 2.' The film's unusual premise about an oil tycoon saving the world from a drilling-induced catastrophe and its R-rating were considered risks from the outset. The strategy to avoid the festival circuit and rely on Tom Cruise's star power and word-of-mouth has not translated into box-office success.
Critical reception for 'Digger' has been largely negative, with some reviews calling it "the worst movie of Tom Cruise's career" and "a metafictional morass." Despite some critics praising Cruise's performance and Iñárritu's experimental approach, the film is widely expected to be too niche to recoup its substantial budget.