Digger with Tom Cruise was a failure. Why did that happen

The black comedy Digger by Alejandro González Iñárritu starring Tom Cruise earned just $8 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters on its debut weekend.

Cinema could be one of the biggest box office failures of the year, Variety writes. Screen Daily calls the result the worst for Cruz — his lowest result at the American box office in 19 years. Fortune praised the film as a “bitter ending” of the existence of Warner Bros. as a standalone studio. The role in Digger was the first role for the actor in almost a decade, in which he does not play a pilot or agent on an impossible mission.

The Guardian does not rule out that the film will be overrated over time. Director Guillermo del Toro stepped in for the film, calling it "bold, daring and cinematically complex.".

High budget and low rental

Warner Bros. Initially approved the production of “Digger” with a budget of about $ 125 million, but because of the protracted filming, the costs rose to $ 160-180 million. The studio spent another $100 million on promotion.

According to sources, the film needs to raise about $ 350 million to payback. A representative for Warner Bros. Estimated the breakeven point at $300 million. According to Box Office data as of October 5, Digger has raised only about $20 million worldwide.

Outside the U.S., Digger earned just $12 million, while Fortune notes that Cruz’s films have traditionally been popular in international markets.

The picture received an age rating of R for the abundance of profanity - this narrows the potential audience, because teenagers can only pass accompanied by an adult.

Negative reviews had to beat in advertising

After weak reviews by Warner Bros. She launched a Digger ad calling on viewers to decide for themselves whether to watch the film. The film company released a video with the words “masterpiece” and “unpleasant”, “magnificent” and “unbearable”. "One movie, different truth," the video says.

To promote the film, Tom Cruise also gave his first big interview in years to GQ magazine.