It was meant to be the film that finally delivered Tom Cruise an Oscar. Instead, Digger has become one of the most expensive misfires in recent Hollywood history, with early projections suggesting losses of $150–200 million. Those are numbers usually reserved for notorious flops like John Carter.
The black comedy, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, sees Cruise play a powerful oil tycoon whose actions trigger an environmental catastrophe. Despite its pedigree, the film managed just $8 million domestically and $20 million worldwide on its opening weekend. With a production budget of up to $180 million and an additional $100 million spent on marketing by Warner Bros., the movie would need to gross around $300 million just to break even.
A gamble that backfired
Box office returns are not always a measure of quality, but when a two-time Oscar-winning director teams up with one of the world's most bankable stars, expectations are inevitably high. Digger was always a risky proposition: a rare big-budget, star-driven original comedy with a metatextual eco-satirical edge. The film's bold twist has divided audiences, praised for its ambition but criticised for being baffling and alienating.
In our review of Digger, we called it "the boldest film of 2026 and this year's wildest misfire," noting that Iñárritu's "brave but misguided gambit" leaves viewers with "a bloated folly that's both hollow and heavy-handed."
Warner Bros.' annus horribilis
The dismal performance adds to a difficult year for Warner Bros., which has struggled to gross more than $100 million domestically with any of its 2026 releases. Both The Bride and Supergirl have already produced significant losses for the studio.
The timing could not be worse. Paramount Skydance's controversial $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is set to close next week, following approval from a US district court last Wednesday. The flop will do little to reassure investors about the studio's commercial viability.
Warner Bros.' only hope of salvaging its year rests on Dune: Part Three, scheduled for December, which is projected to open globally to around $200–230 million. Whether that will be enough to offset the damage remains to be seen.
For European audiences, the failure of Digger is a reminder that even the most star-studded productions can stumble. As the continent's cinemas continue to recover from the pandemic, the industry is watching closely to see how studios adapt to shifting audience tastes. The cruise industry has faced similar scrutiny over its environmental impact, a theme Digger tackles head-on, but with far less success at the box office.
