Tom Cruise’s much-heralded black comedy political satire Digger bombed at the box office this weekend, debuting with just shy of US$8mil in ticket sales.
The dark political satire stars Cruise as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, whose company’s drilling practices unleash a massive climate-change-enabled crisis. The sendup of the characters and reactions that ensue has been panned already by filmgoers and critics alike, though a few have posited it may merely be misunderstood.
Even before the movie’s release, Warner Bros. issued a “see for yourself” campaign, complete with trailer, to coax hesitant moviegoers.
Matched against the US$160 to US$180mil it took to make the movie, the weekend tally from 3,321 theatres nationwide makes Digger the biggest box office bomb of the year, if not of all time, Variety reported.
It’s Cruise’s worst box office opening in 19 years, to boot, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the last one being Lions For Lambs, a 2007 war drama that opened at US$6.7mil, though with a much lower budget of US$25mil.
Digger must make US$300 to US$350mil to break even, which means Warner Bros’ last release before its US$111bil merger with Paramount Skydance becomes official on Tuesday could lose the new corporation headed by Larry Ellison a potential US$125mil. Word has it that Warner Bros co-chairs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who greenlighted the project, have already been shown the door.
Cruise stood by the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed creation on Saturday.
“DIGGER is officially in theatres, and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists,” the star wrote on X. “Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable, and I’m so proud of what we created.” – New York Daily News/TNS
