Tom Cruise’s Environmentally Themed Film Digger Struggles at the Box Office

Tom Cruise’s costly film, Digger, which tackles climate change, has flopped significantly at the box office. After its Thursday previews, it only raked in about $1.2 million.

Warner Bros. invested roughly $250 million into this project, which was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, a two-time Oscar winner known for his deeply introspective cinematic style.

According to Variety, it appears that Digger is on track to become one of the year’s largest box office disappointments, with initial weekend predictions between $12 million and $15 million across 3,300 screens in North America.

But, how concerning is that $1.2 million figure? Well, it’s not good. At all.

In fact, it’s pretty grim. Other films that opened to similar numbers on their Thursday nights have struggled immensely. For instance:

• The Creator (2023) had a Thursday opening of $1.6 million and managed only $14.1 million for the weekend.
• Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026) opened with $1.5 million and ended at $13.5 million.
• Nobody 2 (2025) took in $1.3 million, ultimately earning $9.25 million.
• Wolf Man (2025) opened at $1.4 million, finishing with $10.8 million.

Given its $1.2 million start, it seems unlikely Digger will even meet the modest expectations set by Variety.

What’s particularly striking is that none of the other underperforming films featured Tom Cruise or anyone of his caliber.

The last time Cruise starred in a wide-release movie that opened below $12 million was back in 1992 with Far and Away.

In terms of Thursday previews, the lowest he’s seen was with 2017’s American Made, which, despite being well-received, had a $6.2 million opening weekend and grossed $135 million worldwide. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine Digger reaching anywhere near those figures.

There’s a nagging similarity between Digger and Jennifer Lawrence’s 2017 film Mother!, a loud exploration of environmental issues, albeit in a more metaphoric style. While I wasn’t a fan of Mother!, at least it attempted to convey its messages indirectly. From the buzz around Digger, it seems to be quite the opposite, coming across as blunt and obvious.

Mother! was released on about 2,400 screens with a $7.53 million opening and went on to gross $44 million worldwide. Critics responded more favorably to it than Digger, and it cost significantly less to produce.

As I mentioned earlier, what we really want from films is for them to be enjoyable, inspiring, and thought-provoking, rather than patronizing or condescending. Is that too much to hope for?