‘Digger’ Down: 5 Takeaways After Tom Cruise Suffers One of His Biggest Box Office Bombs

Moviegoers didn’t dig “Digger,” to put it mildly.

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Saddled with terrible reviews and negative word-of-mouth, Tom Cruise‘s absurdist dark comedy has cratered at the box office with $8 million in North America and $20 million globally in its first weekend of release. Those dismal ticket sales were behind earlier projections of $12 million to $15 million and nowhere near the $40 million domestic debut that box office experts suggest a movie of this size would need to justify its price tag.

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With a production budget of $160 million to $180 million, “Digger” is bracing to become not just one of the biggest flops of the year but potentially of all time. Warner Bros. spent another $100 million on marketing efforts, so “Digger” has a theatrical break-even point of roughly $350 million globally, according to executives with knowledge of similar films. A studio spokesperson pushed back, saying the film’s break-even point is $300 million. Since “Digger” isn’t in danger of nearing either figure, the movie is primed to lose at least $150 million to $200 million theatrically. It’s a sad coda for Warner Bros. as the 103-year-old studio’s last standalone release before merging with Paramount. (The deal is expected to close…

Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/

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