At this point, it’s well-documented that while Tom Cruise’s latest big-screen offering Digger might be one of the year’s most talked-about films, this hasn’t exactly translated into ticket sales.
It was recently reported that Digger was on track to become one of 2026’s biggest box office bombs, after making back an estimated $8 million (around $6 million) of its $160 million (around £121 million) budget in its opening week.
Fortunately, the movie’s leading man has insisted this isn’t something that’s likely to be playing on his mind.
During an interview on the podcast On Film…
During an interview on the podcast On Film… published last week on Digger’s release day, Tom claimed: “Movies transcend. You just hope you can make a film that can last.
“So many things happen when you open a movie. I was fortunate to release movies in the 80s and 90s, when movies would stay in the theatre for a year. With Rain Man and Born On The Fourth Of July, these movies would just play and play for a year.”
Tom said that his motivation when choosing his projects now is to decipher, “How can I make a film that can translate and last and evolve?”.
And I feel that way [about Digger], he
“And I feel that way [about Digger],” he continued. “Digger is one of those movies.When I am making [films], I’m not going, ‘Opening weekend!’. I feel very much like we’re going to make something that is a lasting piece of cinema.”
Digger, directed by Birdman and The Revenant filmmakerAlejandro G. Iñárritu, centres around a fictitious oil billionaire who is responsible for causing, and later trying to prevent, a global disaster.
Besides Tom, who is unrecognisable in heavy prosthetics, the movie boasts an impressive all-star cast that includes Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman and House Of The Dragon actor Emma D’Arcy.
Digger is in cinemas now.
