Tom Cruise satire ‘Digger’ opens to $8 million, a major bomb

The latest:

The political satire ‘Digger’ took in an estimated $8 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend, distributor Warner Bros. said — Tom Cruise’s weakest debut since 2007’s ‘Lions for Lambs,’ unadjusted for inflation. The film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, cost roughly $125 million to make. Overseas it grossed $12 million.

Details:

• The numbers: Warner Bros. put the domestic opening at an estimated $8 million against a production budget of about $125 million, with $12 million from international markets. The studio did not release a revised projection for the film’s total run.
• The role: Cruise plays multiple characters, including an oil tycoon who pollutes gleefully — a sharp turn from the action-hero persona that has defined most of his output over the past 15 years, including ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series.
• The analyst view: Film-industry analyst David A. Gross wrote in his box-office newsletter FranchiseRe that even with respectable ancillary income based on the film’s pedigree, the movie is going to lose a lot of money.
• The reception: Reviews split sharply, and audiences were no warmer. Opening-night attendees gave the film an average grade of C+, according to market research firm CinemaScore. Warner leaned into the polarization in its marketing, quoting blistering reviews and inviting audiences to judge for themselves.
• The timing: ‘Digger’ is the final film Warner Bros. releases before Paramount’s deal to acquire its parent company closes Tuesday. Warner becomes a division of the new company, to be called Skydance, ending a 103-year run as a stand-alone studio.
• The strategy: For four years Warner’s motion-picture division has bet heavily on original ideas from acclaimed directors. Iñárritu won Academy Awards for ‘The Revenant’ and ‘Birdman.’ The approach produced Ryan Coogler’s hit horror film ‘Sinners’ and best-picture winner ‘One Battle After Another,’ which underperformed relative to its budget.
• The mixed ledger: Emerald Fennell’s February adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’ performed decently, while Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘The Bride!’ flopped in March. Warner’s franchise slate was similarly uneven, with ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ succeeding and ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ failing.
• The executives: Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who designed the original-film strategy, are not staying once the Paramount sale closes, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Cruise’s pitch: At a Producers Guild of America screening last week, Cruise described the film as important for the future of original, auteur-driven moviemaking, saying he hoped it would do well so others could profit and more films like it could get made.
• No comment: A Warner Bros. spokeswoman declined to comment on the opening. Spokespeople for Cruise did not respond to a request for comment.

Background:

Earlier in his career Cruise alternated commercial hits with riskier work for directors including Stanley Kubrick and Michael Mann. Since roughly 2011 he has concentrated almost entirely on action-adventure films, making ‘Digger’ his most exposed departure in years.

Between the lines:

The result lands on a studio whose leadership is already walking out the door. Abdy and De Luca built a slate on expensive original films by award-winning directors, and its record is split: ‘Sinners’ hit, ‘One Battle After Another’ won best picture but underperformed, ‘The Bride!’ failed. A $125 million loss arriving days before the Skydance takeover gives incoming management a ready argument against repeating the bet.

What’s next

Paramount’s acquisition closes Tuesday, after which Warner operates as a division of Skydance. Watch the second-weekend domestic drop, further international markets, and whether new management signals a retreat from original-film spending.