Tom Cruise's "Digger": A Star Spends His Freedom on a Risk

For most of the past decade, Tom Cruise has been the industry's most reliable proof that a movie star can still sell a ticket. He did it by leaning into what audiences already trusted him to do: run, fly, fall and survive. Digger, which opened on 2 October, asks for something different. It is an R-rated apocalyptic satire from Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, built around a Cruise that audiences barely recognise. Its first weekend, an estimated $8 million in North America, was the weakest opening of his career in nearly two decades. How the film is landing says a good deal about the freedom stars and filmmakers have to take risks, and about how much of that risk audiences are willing to share.

The film

'Digger' Review: Tom Cruise destroys the planet in Alejandro Iñárritu's grandiose, messy political satire

Released by Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, Digger follows Digger Rockwell, a Texas oil baron billed as the most powerful man in the world, whose drilling operation sets off an environmental catastrophe in Greenland. He then sets out to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he unleashed finishes the job. John Goodman, reported to play the President, heads a large supporting cast that includes Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Emma D'Arcy and Sophie Wilde. The marketing called it "a comedy of catastrophic proportions", and Iñárritu has described it as a "brutal comedy".

Tom Cruise defends Digger after scathing reviews

Several details mark it as a departure. It is Cruise's first original, non-franchise film since American Made in 2017, his first film under his deal with Warner Bros. to develop and produce theatrical releases, and, per Screen Daily, his first comedy since Rock of Ages in 2012. It is also Iñárritu's first English-language feature since The Revenant. Iñárritu co-wrote the screenplay with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman, and the film was shot on VistaVision with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Cruise, 64, works under heavy prosthetics. At the London premiere on 22 September, reports quoted him calling the character "totally outrageous."

A divided reception

Tom Cruise's 'Digger' divides critics as Zurich Film Festival stars steal the spotlight

Critics have not settled on a verdict, and the split is unusually sharp. As of 6 October, Rotten Tomatoes showed a 51% Tomatometer from 282 reviews and a 72% audience Popcornmeter. Metacritic has been reported in the mid-40s. The film debuted on Rotten Tomatoes at 41% before rising, which outlets described as Cruise's lowest critical score in about nine years. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus calls it an audacious, stylised satire that misses as often as it hits.

Supporters describe one of the boldest studio films in years and credit Cruise with a fearless, scenery-devouring performance. The BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote that he found himself grinning at the scale of the performance and the conviction of the environmental message. Another review described Cruise's turn as a meta-commentary on his own screen persona, in the way Stanley Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson used him. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro publicly defended the film after IGN's review headline, calling the headline petty and saying he admired the film's scale and ambition as a theatrical experience.

Detractors found the satire blunt, unfocused or simply not funny, and one review contrasted its approach with the cool detachment that made Kubrick's absurdist comedy work. Others called the tone abrasive and the story hard to follow. Even among mixed reviews there is a common thread: Cruise's performance is the element most often praised. Variety's Clayton Davis, reacting after the premiere, said he respected the swing and admired the production design but felt not all of the film's ideas connected. Audiences have been just as mixed: Deadline reported a C+ CinemaScore, while the Rotten Tomatoes audience score sits well above the critics' number.

The commercial picture

Tom Cruise's 'Digger' Gets Wildly Mixed Responses from Critics

The box office has been less ambiguous. According to Deadline's Sunday update, Digger opened to about $8 million in North America, which is the lowest opening for Cruise since Lions for Lambs in 2007. Hollywood Outbreak reported it played in 3,321 theatres and finished fifth, with some rivals expecting the final figure to land nearer $7.5 million. Overseas it added roughly $12 million, for about $20 million worldwide. Amazon MGM's Verity won the weekend with about $32.6 million. Thursday previews of $1.2 million had already signalled a soft start, and pre-release tracking had slid from about $20 million in September to between $12 million and $15 million.

The cost side makes those numbers harder. The film's budget was officially reported at $125 million. Variety reported, citing sources, that it rose to between $160 million and $180 million after the production ran over schedule, with roughly $100 million more spent on marketing. A Warner Bros. spokesperson disputed the budget claim and put the worldwide break-even point at $300 million, while executives cited by Variety suggested nearer $350 million. These are reported and disputed figures, not audited ones. On any of them, the film has a long way to go.

Commentators have offered several explanations: a marketing campaign that kept the film's central turn secret, a tone that was a big ask for his usual audience, and a crowded field of adult-skewing releases. Supporters point to the premium formats and a possible awards run, noting that Warner Bros.' One Battle After Another opened to $22 million last year and still went on to win Best Picture. TheWrap also reported that Digger was expected to be Warner Bros.' last release as a standalone studio before Paramount takes ownership of its parent company, which adds institutional weight to the result.

The awards question

Warner Bros. positioned Digger as an awards contender, with hopes of earning Cruise a fourth acting Oscar nomination. He has been nominated three times and received an honorary Oscar, presented to him by Iñárritu. Reviews that are otherwise negative have tended to single out his performance, so the campaign may rest on that. Whether Academy voters respond to a film that critics and audiences are splitting over is an open question, and one that will be answered in months rather than days.

What the film says about risk

Digger can be read as a test of three kinds of freedom. The first is the star's: Cruise has the standing to spend it on a role that hides much of what made him famous. The second is the filmmaker's: an auteur given a large budget and a studio willing to release an uncompromising satire in premium formats. The third is the audience's, which is the freedom to decline. The first weekend suggests that many viewers have exercised it.

There is no single correct reading of that outcome. One view holds that studios should keep taking swings like this, and that a film's worth is not settled by one weekend. Another holds that audiences have told the industry plainly what they will pay for, and that costs on this scale leave little room for experiment. Both views are defensible, and the film's longer run, its international performance and the awards season will each add evidence.

What to watch next

Second weekend: whether word of mouth helps or hurts, and how long premium-format screens hold.
International and ancillary revenue: which will determine whether the reported break-even figures are within reach.
Awards season: whether Cruise's performance carries the film into the conversation despite the divided reviews.
Cruise's next projects: a Days of Thunder sequel is reported for 2028, and Top Gun 3 is in development at Paramount, which means his next releases are likely to be back in familiar territory.

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