Tom Cruise’s “Digger” opened to just $8 million at the domestic box office against a huge production budget, a rare commercial misfire for one of Hollywood’s most reliable stars.
The Alejandro G. Iñárritu drama took in $8 million domestically and $12 million internationally over the weekend, Fox News reported, leaving Warner Bros. with a disappointing send-off as a standalone studio.
The film reportedly cost between $125 million and $150 million to make, with marketing expenses estimated near $100 million. Those numbers make the opening a stark miss next to the scale of the campaign and the star attached to it.
“Digger” finished well behind the weekend’s leaders. Amazon MGM’s “Verity,” starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, debuted at No. 1 with $32.6 million. Sony’s “Resident Evil” took second with $12.5 million. Paramount’s Brad Pitt vehicle “Heart of the Beast” collected $11 million.
Critics were split. The movie sat at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cruise remains a proven draw for big, broad entertainment. “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.5 billion worldwide. This project was built differently.
Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, told Fox News Digital the film never lined up with the kind of titles audiences expect from the star.
"‘Digger’ was always a much tougher commercial proposition than the kind of broad, action-driven, franchise-oriented films audiences traditionally associate with Cruise."
He added that Cruise’s name alone did not revise the movie’s design.
"The challenge was that having Tom Cruise as the star didn’t automatically make it a Tom Cruise blockbuster, nor was the movie necessarily designed to be one."
That gap between brand and product showed up immediately in the grosses. Studios still chase event movies and franchise safety. “Digger” offered neither.
The rollout had prestige. On Sept. 22, 2026, the world premiere and Royal Film Performance played at the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square in London. Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the charity screening for the UK’s Film and TV Charity. Cruise welcomed them on the carpet. David Beckham appeared with sons Cruz and Romeo.
Months earlier, on April 14, 2026, Cruise and Iñárritu had fronted Warner Bros.’ “The Big Picture” presentation at CinemaCon inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Cruise also sat for a rare one-on-one interview with GQ as part of the push.
None of that converted into a strong opening frame. The weekend results landed as Paramount Skydance moved to close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, turning the underwhelming debut into a muted final note for the studio in its current form.
Dergarabedian stressed that one soft weekend does not revise decades of results or the leverage Cruise still carries.
"Given his extraordinary history with Paramount, the timing certainly adds an interesting layer to the story, but one movie doesn’t erase decades of success or the value he brings to a studio."
He said the takeaways center on cost, positioning, and expectations, not on walking away from the star.
"There are lessons to be learned from ‘Digger,’ particularly around budget, positioning and expectations, but I don’t see this changing the fact that studios will continue to want to work with him."
And he put the larger market reality plainly.
"I think the interesting thing here is that the result really doesn’t change the fundamental reality that every studio wants to be in the Tom Cruise business."
That is the rational studio view. It does not erase the ledger on this release. A film that cost well over $100 million to produce, then spent roughly another $100 million to sell, opened to single-digit domestic millions while a Colleen Hoover adaptation and a video-game reboot cleared it with room to spare.
Cruise has spent years defending the theatrical window and delivering for Paramount on event titles. The “Digger” opening shows what happens when a major star is paired with a tougher art-house commercial bet and a swollen budget. Audiences stayed home or chose something else.
Hollywood keeps writing nine-figure checks and calling the result prestige. Ticket buyers still decide what counts as a hit.
