Tom Cruise's 'Digger' Divides Critics as Box Office Hopes Shrink
Tom Cruise's climate satire 'Digger' is drawing mixed reviews, and Warner Bros. is reportedly projecting a far softer opening than early tracking suggested.
People are searching for "Digger" because Tom Cruise's new film from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu is arriving to a split critical response and cautious box office expectations. Reviews have been mixed, and the studio's own projections for its opening are well below what analysts forecast months ago.
No final opening-weekend numbers are available in the sources reviewed, so everything below about the box office is a projection, not a result.
What the film is about
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a Texas-accented oil executive who has grown his father's wildcat company into a global business. According to Grist's review, a methane leak at one of his rigs in Greenland leads to the collapse of the island's ice sheet, and a huge iceberg heads toward Europe.
Digger then confers with the president, played by John Goodman. The film is a satire of corporate power and climate responsibility. Riz Ahmed and Sandra Hüller also star.
Cruise is heavily transformed for the role. The Hollywood Reporter describes him as a portly, gray-haired jerk, a long way from his action-franchise image.
How critics have reacted
The response has been polarizing. The film holds a 50 percent critics' approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Grist's climate reporter wrote that the film says nothing viewers don't already know. THR's chief film critic David Rooney was also harsh about the film's length and pacing.
Not everyone is dismissive of the ambition. THR notes that the film's big creative swing, so far from Cruise's usual franchise work, has earned praise from onlookers.
The box office picture
Third-party tracking services predicted months ago that the film could open to about $30 million in North America. Warner Bros. is now reportedly projecting $12 million to $15 million domestically, plus $15 million to $20 million internationally.
The production budget started at $125 million. It has been reported to have risen to nearer $180 million, though a Warner Bros. spokesperson disputes that figure.
Analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak told THR that expectations shouldn't rest on star power alone. He called the film "very filmmaker-centric" and not positioned as a mainstream blockbuster.
Why it matters for Cruise and Warner Bros.
The film follows the underperformance of last year's Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. THR describes the film as a big creative swing that feels far from the safer franchise plays Cruise is known for, including his forthcoming Days of Thunder 2.
Warner Bros. has had a tougher 2026 than 2025. Its biggest title so far, Wuthering Heights, reached $241 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. The Bride! and Supergirl were earlier disappointments.
The studio hopes awards attention could give Digger a longer run in theaters. Its 2025 releases One Battle After Another and Sinners both benefited from strong word of mouth and Oscar success.
What to watch next
The key question is how audiences respond once the opening weekend numbers arrive. Word of mouth and any awards buzz will decide whether the film can recover from a soft start.
Keep it in Saved stories on this device to read later.
