Tom Cruise's Digger is losing screens faster than any major film in years — and still hasn't crossed $20M in North America.
Digger is on track to become one of the most expensive theatrical flops in recent memory, with its North American box office total sitting at just $16.1 million after 13 days — and falling fast. The Tom Cruise-led dark comedy, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and budgeted at over $160 million, opened to a weak $8 million from 3,321 theaters, registering one of the lowest debuts for the actor in two decades.
That’s a per-theater average of $2,408, well below industry benchmarks for a star-driven release. With an additional $100 million spent on marketing, the film needs $350 million worldwide to break even. Now, according to trade sources quoted by Koimoi, it could result in a loss exceeding $240 million for Warner Bros.
Pictures. The collapse isn’t just about money, it’s about momentum. The film has suffered one of the steepest single-weekend drops in theater count in Hollywood history, ranking #10 among such losses of all time. It’s now being pulled from screens faster than any major title in years, with exhibitors reportedly eager to wipe it off their schedules.
On Wednesday alone, it earned only $487k. A 34.5% drop from the previous week, and shows no sign of recovery. Overseas, it hasn’t crossed $50 million globally. The film follows a fictionalized, hyper-obsessed U.S. President who races to prove he’s humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.
Cruise said he didn’t make it thinking about opening weekends. “I feel very much like we’re going to make something that is a lasting piece of cinema,” he told reporters. But audiences didn’t show up. And the market doesn’t care about legacy when the numbers are this bad.
The irony, though, is not lost on anyone. Melania Trump’s documentary, Melania, released earlier this year, played in only 1,778 theaters but grossed $7.16 million in its opening weekend, averaging $4,027 per theater. 67% higher than Digger’s performance. Marc Beckman, her senior advisor, took to social media to highlight the contrast.
He noted the doc earned $16.3 million domestically and $16.6 million globally, despite Amazon paying $40 million for rights and another $35 million on marketing. The post wasn’t just data, it was a jab. Digger is a satire about a leader ruled by fear and spectacle. The internet’s already turning the whole mess into a meme.
Someone posted a clip of Munna Bhai giving foreign policy advice to Donald Trump in full tapori style. The caption? “Call it Gandhigiri, not a roast.” What happens next? Will Digger get a streaming push?
Or will it vanish into the vault? One thing’s certain: the film’s fate is no longer in the hands of critics or fans. It’s in the hands of distributors, and the clock is ticking.
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