Tom Cruise's 'Digger' flops, Warner looks at massive loss
What's the story
Tom Cruise's latest film, Digger, has had a disappointing opening weekend at the global box office. Directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, the satire earned just $20 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $150 million and an additional $100 million spent on marketing. The film's poor performance marks one of Cruise's worst debuts and is a bitter end for Warner Bros. as a standalone studio.
Global performance
'Digger's international sales were also underwhelming
Despite Cruise's global popularity, Digger's international sales were also underwhelming.
The film only made $12 million from 74 markets, while North America grossed $8 million.
This dismal performance comes after Warner Bros. had lowered its expectations for the film following scathing early reviews.
The studio has been running satirical ads against negative reviews to attract audience, too.
Box office battle
'Verity' tops North American box office
In North America, the top spot was taken by Amazon MGM's Verity, which debuted with $32.6 million. This continues the trend of Colleen Hoover adaptations performing well at the box office.
The film, directed by Michael Showalter and starring Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway, is about a writer hired to ghostwrite a book series by an incapacitated author.
Awards potential
'Digger' was seen as a potential awards season contender
Digger had been seen as a potential contender for the upcoming awards season, releasing almost exactly a year after Warner Bros.'s One Battle After Another.
However, while the latter grossed $213.2 million worldwide and won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Digger's performance has fallen short of expectations. But the lead star has received praise.
Critical reception
More about 'Digger'
Despite Cruise's acclaimed performance, Digger has been largely panned by critics.
It is Cruise's first collaboration with Iñárritu. It is also Iñárritu's first English-language film since The Revenant (2015).
In the movie, Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an oil baron whose actions lead to an ecological disaster that could trigger a nuclear war.