Digger bombs at the box office: Tom Cruise's polarising film becomes 'the biggest flop of his career' and could lose $150million in 'historic disaster
He has spent months relentlessly building anticipation for his new movie – but even Tom Cruise's star power couldn’t stop Digger from bombing at the box office on its opening weekend.
The critically panned satire grossed just $8million in US cinemas, with international sales of $12million from 74 countries.
This for a movie which cost at least $125million to make, with some insiders reporting that the production budget was actually closer to $160million. On top of that, $100million is thought to have been spent on marketing.
The film, directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, needs to make around $350million in movie theatres across the world to break even but industry experts say it is on course to lose $150million, which would make it one of the biggest flops of Cruise’s 45-year career.
The actor’s 2007 political thriller Lions for Lambs was another major flop but cost only $35million to make. Ten years later Cruise’s attempt at revitalising The Mummy franchise was also a huge misfire, losing $95million.
At the opposite end of the scale, Verity, the chilling thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s smash hit novel and starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, made $32.6million over the same weekend, comfortably earning the No1 spot at the box office.
The big-budget black comedy was positioned as a major awards contender for the actor, as he underwent a dramatic transformation to take on the role of an eccentric oil tycoon who unknowingly sparks an ecological disaster.
Reviews for the film have been hugely mixed, with one noting that the role is indeed a bold one for Tom, given his decades-long reputation for big-budget blockbusters