Tom Cruise’s first film with director Alejandro González Iñárritu has had a difficult start. Digger opened to $8.0 million in North America and stood at $24.9 million worldwide after six days, against a budget The Numbers puts at $125 million.

Digger, the Warner Bros. black comedy that pairs Tom Cruise with the director Alejandro González Iñárritu, has opened well below what a production of its size needs.

The film took $8,001,856 in North America over its first weekend, October 2–4, according to The Numbers. It played in 3,321 theaters, for an average of $2,409 each, and finished fourth on the chart.

The Numbers So Far

By Wednesday, October 7, its sixth day in release, Digger had made $10,647,691 in North America and $14,300,000 in other markets, for a worldwide total of $24,947,691.

The Numbers lists the production budget at $125 million. On that figure, the film has so far earned back about a fifth of its budget at the worldwide box office. Budget figures of this kind are estimates and do not include marketing costs.

What the Film Is

Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, described in the film’s official synopsis as the most powerful man in the world, who sets out on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before a disaster he has unleashed destroys everything.

The cast also includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman as the President of the United States, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons. Iñárritu wrote the screenplay with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman. The film runs 128 minutes and was produced by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., among others.

How It Compares

Digger opened on the same day as Verity, which made $32,031,011 from 3,510 theaters, four times as much, on a budget The Numbers puts at $40 million.

It also finished behind two films in their second or third weekends: Resident Evil, with $12,618,839, and Heart of the Beast, with $10,876,713.

The film arrived in a week of upheaval for its studio. Warner Bros. became part of the newly named Skydance on October 6, four days after Digger reached cinemas, when Paramount completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Image: Tom Cruise at the Saturn Awards, March 2026. Photo by Luis Ochea via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.