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Tom Cruise has returned to the big screen with Warner Bros. in Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, but the film has opened to a disappointing $20 million in its first days in theaters.
According to Deadline, the production budget exceeded $160 million, making this Cruise's worst cinematic opening in 19 years and positioning the project to deliver a major loss for Warner Bros. Industry reports suggest the studio could lose over $150 million even if the film manages to reach $50 million at the box office.
The weak launch has drawn comparisons to other box office struggles, such as Dwayne Johnson's The Smashing Machine which made $21 million in 2025 and Amsterdam with Margot Robbie and Christian Bale which grossed $31 million in 2022, though those films had significantly lower budgets than Digger.
Deadline notes that Digger marks the first film under a new contract signed by Cruise with Warner Bros. in 2024. However, with the company scheduled to be sold within hours, the poor financial performance could create tension between the actor and the studio's new owners.
