Tom Cruise's darkly comic eco-parable Digger is on track to lose up to $250m (£189m), which could make it the second biggest box office bomb of all time. Two weeks after its worldwide release, the film's box office performance has fallen far short of expectations.
The film, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who won an Oscar for Birdman, features Cruise under heavy make-up as the titular oil tycoon. It has received a 52% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the performances and the audacious plot twists.
Box Office Shortfall
In its debut weekend, Digger earned just $8m (£6m) in the US, four times less than Anne Hathaway's psycho-thriller Verity, which also debuted that weekend. According to The Wrap, the movie could end up with a final box office total as low as $40m (£30m), against a reported budget of $125m (£94m). Once marketing costs are factored in, the film could face a significant deficit.
These are estimates, and it is possible the film could recoup some losses on home entertainment formats. However, if the figures hold, it would place Digger firmly among the biggest box office flops in history.
Historical Comparisons
The biggest box office bomb of all time is estimated to be the 2012 sci-fi adventure John Carter. Based on the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burrough, the film cost $263m (£211.3m) to produce, before marketing costs. Despite earning $284m worldwide (£214.7m), it ended up with an enormous loss of $255m (£205m). A month after its release, Disney chairman Rich Ross, who greenlit the project, resigned, saying the role was 'no longer the right professional fit for me'.
The biggest flop of the 2020s so far is The Marvels, the sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel. Despite a middling 63% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a worldwide gross of $206m (£156.2m), the film's budget of around $219m (£166m) and marketing costs led to an estimated loss of $237m (£179.7m). The SAG-Aftra strike, which prevented stars like Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson from doing press, has been cited as a possible factor.
Other Notable Bombs
Other significant box office flops include 2013's The Lone Ranger, which lost $240m (£192.8m); 1999's The 13th Warrior, which lost around $227m (£171m); and 1995's Cutthroat Island, which lost $202m (£152m) and bankrupted producers Carolco Pictures.
If Digger loses $250m, it would become the second biggest bomb of all time behind John Carter. Box office analyst David A Gross told Variety: 'For a black comedy, the numbers are not bad. But black comedies are small films, and this isn't a small film. It's a Tom Cruise movie. The comedy walks a fine line, and when it misses, it misses.'
Cruise has defended the movie, telling the On Film With Kevin McCarthy podcast: 'When I am making [movies], I'm not going, "Opening weekend!" I feel very much like we're going to make something that is a lasting piece of cinema. They transcend… you just hope you can make a film that can last.'
