Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Is Shaping Up to Be One of Hollywood’s Costliest Flops as Loss Estimates Pile Up
It was supposed to be one of Warner Bros.’ boldest gambles of the year. ‘Digger’ paired Tom Cruise with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu for a rare big-budget, star-driven, R-rated original comedy, and many saw it as a potential awards season contender.
Instead, the satire has collapsed. The film opened to just $8 million from 3,321 North American theaters and added $12 million from 74 overseas markets, for a global start of only $20 million, marking Cruise’s lowest opening in 19 years.
Now the full financial damage is coming into focus, and it’s staggering. According to Deadline, ‘Digger’ is on track to lose Warner Bros. an estimated $148 million, placing it among the biggest flops in recent Hollywood history.
Deadline’s estimate is based on projected total revenues of $127 million against global costs of $275 million. Those revenues include theatrical rentals, airline deals, domestic home streaming, premium video-on-demand, and international TV.
The costs go far beyond production. Along with the movie’s budget, Warner Bros. spent close to $100 million on worldwide prints and advertising, plus global home entertainment and TV expenses. According to Dark Horizons, Deadline’s figures assume the film will perform better on home video than it did in theaters. If it doesn’t, the losses could grow even larger.
The film’s actual budget has become its own point of contention. Warner Bros. officially greenlit ‘Digger’ for $125 million, but sources told IndieWire the true price tag landed between $160 million and $180 million after production ran long.
A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released. In theaters October 2. https://t.co/kTEeFZI14E
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026
Variety painted an even grimmer picture. The outlet estimated the film needs about $350 million globally to break even, though a Warner Bros. spokesperson pushed back with a figure closer to $300 million, and Variety projected theatrical losses of at least $150 million to $200 million.
Box office experts now suggest ‘Digger’ will struggle to reach even $50 million worldwide. Audiences were not kind either, giving the film a C+ CinemaScore. IndieWire called ‘Digger’ one of the biggest, if not the biggest, flops of Cruise’s career. For comparison, the outlet noted that his ‘The Mummy’ lost $95 million and ended Universal’s Dark Universe plans before they could begin.
Still, some analysts argue the financial pain falls mostly on the studio. Warner Bros. distributed the film and co-financed it with Legendary Pictures, meaning the companies behind it absorb the shortfall.
The timing could hardly be more symbolic. ‘Digger’ is being pegged as the final release of the Warner Bros. regime led by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who will not be carried into the company’s future under David Ellison.
Their tenure was a mix of highs and lows. Dark Horizons noted that it opened with the high-profile bomb ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ but also delivered hits like ‘Sinners’, ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and ‘One Battle After Another’, which went on to win Best Picture. ‘Digger’ arrived almost exactly a year after that Oscar winner, hoping to repeat its awards success. Instead, it may become a cautionary tale about the risks of costly original films.
What do you think went wrong with Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’?
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