‘Digger’ Headed for Worst Opening for a Tom Cruise Film in Nearly 20 Years

Dan Clarendon October 3, 2026, 2:49 pm

Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell in 'Digger' — Warner Bros./Courtesy: Everett Collection

What To Know

Digger is projected to earn only $8 million in its opening weekend, making it Tom Cruise’s lowest box office debut since 2007’s Lions for Lambs.
The film, a dark comedy directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and featuring a star-studded cast, has received mixed reviews from critics and audiences.
Other films like Verity and Heart of the Beast are outperforming Digger at the box office.

Digger seems to be digging for the bottom of the box-office barrel, with its first-weekend take on track to become Tom Cruise’s worst since 2007’s Lions for Lambs.

After grossing $3.3 million in Thursday previews and Friday showings, Digger is expected to open with around $8 million from 3,300 North American theaters this weekend, against a $125 million production budget, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (Variety reports the budget actually grew to as much as $180 million after its production ran long.)

That gross is lower than the $12–15 million Warner Bros. was expecting and would be Cruise’s lowest-earning opening weekend since Lions for Lambs opened to $6.7 million nearly 20 years ago.

Verity, the thriller starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, is expected to win the domestic box office this weekend, and is estimated to earn $33.6 million from 3,510 North American locations after collecting $15.1 million on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the Brad Pitt survival drama Heart of the Beast is tracking toward earning $11 million in its second weekend at the box office, while the Robert Pattinson thriller Primetime is expected to bring in $8 million in its second weekend.

Digger, directed and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, is a dark comedy starring Cruise as Digger Rockwell, the most powerful man in the world, who embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he has unleashed destroys everything. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons co-star in the production, which marks Warner Bros.’ final release as a standalone studio.

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Currently, Digger has a C+ CinemaScore from audiences, a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51% and a Metacritic score of 45/100. In a glowing review, San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle wrote, “What makes the film great, or near great, is its hugeness of aspiration. Iñárritu is trying to make the ultimate statement about our time. He can’t possibly succeed completely, but he takes a big swing and makes serious contact.”

On the opposite end of the critical spectrum, The Wall Street Journal’s Kyle Smith wrote, “This movie is to funny what Exxon is to Greenpeace. … I’ve seen oil slicks that were more interesting than Digger.”