At one time, there had been a lot of hype surrounding Digger because this project was very different than the typical blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun that moviegoers were used to with Cruise. However, reviews for Digger have been very mixed, with critics giving it a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At the box office, the film settled for fifth place on opening weekend and has only grossed $38 million so far. Making matters worse, Luiz Fernando on X is now reporting that this coming weekend, Digger will be removed from 2,535 theaters, making it the 10th biggest theater count loss ever for a single weekend.
Up until now, it had been playing in 3,321 theaters, according to Box Office Mojo.
The nine films that had it worse were The Rhythm Section (3,049), Cry Macho (2,780), A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2,721), The Many Saints of Newark (2,679), The Darkest Minds (2,679), A Cure for Wellness (2,616), Afraid (2,597), The Bride! (2,596) and Copshop (2,580).
Cruise plays the titular character in Digger, an oil tycoon who causes a global catastrophe after he extracts oil in Greenland in partnership with the United States president, ignoring all the warning signs along the way.
Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons and Emma D'Arcy also star in the film, which was directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who co-wrote the script with Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman.
Iñárritu's most recent wide theatrical release was The Revenant in 2015. The Leonardo DiCaprio-led survival drama went on to gross $533.5 million, earn solid reviews from critics and win three Oscars (Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography). Iñárritu also helmed Birdman, Biutiful and Babel.
Speaking of the Oscars, there used to be awards show speculation surrounding Digger, especially for Cruise's performance, but that talk has now died down amid its underwhelming reception and box office returns.
It could still be nominated in a category like Best Makeup and Hairstyling, but it's too early to tell how everything will play out ahead of the Oscar nominations announcement on January 21, 2027.
This coming weekend, though, Digger will have to contend with multiple new theatrical releases, including Street Fighter, Whalefall and Sense and Sensibility, and then Clayface, Wildwood and Wicker the following week.
It already dropped to eighth place in its second weekend in theaters, with a 60% decrease in ticket sales, so Digger's removal from more than 2,000 locations merely adds insult to injury.
Release Date
October 2, 2026
Runtime
128 minutes
Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Writers
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone
Producers
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Michael Sharp, Tom Cruise
English (US) ·