Tom Cruise delivers his worst opening weekend in two decades as 'Digger' garners $8m at domestic box office

Warner Bros film Digger has tanked on its opening weekend, with a $20m global box office collection, handing Tom Cruise one of the worst debuts of his career and the lowest in nearly two decades. Mexican director Alejandro G Iñárritu's movie, which has been largely bashed by critics, has grossed a meager $8m at the North American box office. Cruise is generally a crowd magnet overseas, but international sales -- $12m from a total of 74 markets -- also remained weak.

This marks a particularly difficult start for a film with a budget of at least $125m. Reports suggest that Digger's production budget is around $150m, with an additional $100m spent on marketing.

What is Digger all about?

Digger had been marketed as a potential awards-season favorite, released around the same time of the year as Warner Bros’ One Battle After Another (2025), which won the Best Picture award at the Oscars in March.

Released in the US on October 2, Digger is a politically-charged climate change satire, which also stars Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Sandra Hüller, among others. Cruise takes the role of Digger Rockwell, a brazen oil tycoon whose company causes a catastrophic environmental disaster that threatens widespread destruction.

Tom Cruise's biggest flops

Tom Cruise remains a top action hero even in his 60s, with recent box office hits including Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025). His last major box office dud was the 2017 remake of The Mummy, which collected $409.2m worldwide on a budget of $195m budget.

Other notable box office flops delivered by Cruise include Lions for Lambs (2007; $64.8 million worldwide collection), Magnolia (1999; $48.5 million), and Rock of Ages (2012; $59.4 million). Since becoming a superstar, Cruise's lowest-ever box office opening weekend was recorded by Lions for Lamb, grossing less than $7 million. However, that film had a much smaller production budget of around $35 million, compared to Digger's massive budget.

Poor year for Warner Bros

Digger's abysmal show comes as Paramount completes its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, after receiving approval from the US district court for a $110bn merger deal. Paramount said it would close the merger on Tuesday (October 6) and mass layoffs are expected to follow.

This year, Warner Bros has failed to get a single film to $100m in the US, though its December release Dune: Part III is touted to easily go past that mark.