Tom Cruise “so proud” of Digger as del Toro defends it and the box office stays under $10M

Tom Cruise has publicly stood behind Digger as the film’s opening weekend came in far below expectations, and Guillermo del Toro has gone further, praising the film and criticizing a negative review. Deadline’s Saturday estimate was an opening of about $8 million, The Hollywood Reporter also pointed to roughly $8 million, and Variety cited $7.5 million. All three put the Warner Bros. satire well under $10 million, with Amazon MGM’s Verity at No. 1.

Key facts: Digger’s opening weekend

Detail	What was reported
Opening estimate	About $8 million (Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter); $7.5 million (Variety)
Theaters	About 3,300 in North America (The Hollywood Reporter)
Budget	$125 million production budget (The Hollywood Reporter)
Friday gross	$3.3 million including previews (The Hollywood Reporter); $3.4 million (Variety)
Audience grade	C+ CinemaScore (Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter)
Critics	51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (Variety, The Hollywood Reporter)
Weekend winner	Verity, about $33 million or more (Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter)

Cruise: “I’m so proud of what we created”

On Saturday morning Cruise shared behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot in a social media post, which Deadline said appeared on Instagram and Variety on X. “Digger is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists,” he wrote, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable and I’m so proud of what we created.”

The Hollywood Reporter noted that earlier in the week, during an onstage conversation after a Los Angeles screening, Cruise talked about pursuing success throughout his career. “My hope is always that the films would do well enough that I would have that opportunity to do it again,” he said. “People want to see real things. This career, we have to work to do it. It was never handed to any of us.”

The numbers behind the weekend

The Hollywood Reporter said Digger opened in about 3,300 North American theaters and took $3.3 million on Friday, previews included, and the weekend is tracking below the $12 million to $15 million opening Warner Bros. had been projecting. Variety put the Friday total at $3.4 million. Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter agreed that the weekend would be Cruise’s lowest opening since Lions for Lambs in 2007, which The Hollywood Reporter said debuted with $6.7 million from a far smaller budget. Deadline put the gap at 19 years.

Deadline reported that audiences were young and mostly male: 60 percent of ticket buyers were between 18 and 34, and more than 70 percent were men. It said director Alejandro G. Iñárritu had made the movie for Gen Z. The film is playing most strongly on the coasts, with AMC Lincoln Square recording the best total, Deadline added. Both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported a C+ CinemaScore, which The Hollywood Reporter said is among the worst grades of Cruise’s career and matches Lions for Lambs.

Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak told The Hollywood Reporter, “We have to place our expectations around what this movie is and what it’s trying to be, rather than what the name Tom Cruise might normally be expected to deliver at the box office.” The studio, the trade added, still hopes awards attention will help the film find an audience. The Hollywood Reporter described Digger as Warner Bros.’ final release as a stand-alone studio, with Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion merger with the company expected to close on Oct. 6.

How the rest of the chart looks

The Hollywood Reporter estimated Verity at $33.6 million from 3,510 locations after a $15.1 million Friday that included Thursday previews, and Deadline called it a solid start of $33 million or more. The Hollywood Reporter said Sony’s Resident Evil should take about $12 million in its third weekend for a total near $124.3 million, and Paramount’s Heart of the Beast, with Brad Pitt, is heading for about $11 million in its second frame and a cumulative $38 million. A24’s Primetime is tracking to about $8 million and is likely to finish above Digger, according to the same outlet. Lionsgate’s Beware Boiúna opened quietly with about $500,000 from 1,121 theaters.

Del Toro defends the film

Guillermo del Toro used X to take on critics. Responding to IGN’s review, which Deadline said called the film “far from a must-watch” and suggested waiting for streaming, he wrote: “Entirely Petty headline. Love it or not. And, yes, I do. The film delivers in scale, ambition and reach at a theatrical screen level. Daring, bold and cinematically complex. Decidedly a theatrical experience.”

Del Toro then reposted other positive posts about the film, including one praising Cruise’s performance. “Funny, I go into the platform and without even scrolling down, these are popping at the top of my timeline,” he wrote. “So… I will just keep posting them. Tune in or drop out.” Another repost carried the caption “Dig or Die – c’mon!” Variety and Deadline said he compared the reaction to Digger with the initial response to The Big Lebowski, The King of Comedy and The Counselor, films that drew scrutiny on release and found appreciation later.

What the critics said

Reviews remain divided. Deadline’s Pete Hammond wrote that Digger “is unlike any film coming from a major Hollywood studio in years” and could be “one of the more divisive movies for the masses in a very long time.” The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney called it “dead and buried,” while Variety quoted its chief film critic Owen Gleiberman saying he was “not sure that ‘Digger’ is going to connect, because it’s so full of itself.”

The story follows Cruise as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, who races to fix a catastrophe he caused so he can avoid blame and be seen as humanity’s savior, Deadline reported. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller also star. Cruise is next due to begin work on Days of Thunder 2, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Digger make on opening weekend?

Saturday estimates put it at about $8 million according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, and $7.5 million according to Variety. Deadline described it as Tom Cruise’s lowest opening in 19 years.

What did Tom Cruise say about Digger?

In a social media post on Saturday, Cruise thanked the cast and crew and wrote that he was “so proud of what we created,” Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Why is Guillermo del Toro defending Digger?

Del Toro posted on X that the film is “daring, bold and cinematically complex” and called an IGN review headline “petty,” according to Deadline and Variety. He also compared the reviews to early reactions to The Big Lebowski and The King of Comedy.