The film Digger, starring Tom Cruise, has made a weak start at US cinemas. The film took approximately 3.4 million dollars on its first Friday, including previews, and the takings for the opening weekend are estimated at around 8 million dollars.
Digger opened in the United States on 2 October in more than 3,300 cinemas. According to The Numbers, it took approximately 3.4 million dollars on Friday, of which 1.2 million came from previews. The figures are provisional box-office data.
The film is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, known for films including Birdman and The Revenant. Cruise plays a powerful man trying to avert the consequences of a disaster he caused. Warner Bros. is releasing the film in cinemas and IMAX.
According to the initial estimates, the North American opening takings will come to around 8 million dollars. That would give Digger the lowest opening takings for a film starring Cruise since Lions for Lambs in 2007. This is a comparison of takings, not a judgement on the film’s artistic quality.
The film reportedly has a production budget of approximately 125 million dollars, excluding marketing. A weak first week does not automatically mean that a film makes a loss: international takings, a longer theatrical run, streaming rights and sales to television broadcasters can affect the eventual result.
Digger is an original film and not a sequel to an existing franchise. That makes the disappointing start relevant to Warner Bros. and to the wider cinema market, in which major studios often seek certainty in familiar characters and series.
Digger opened in the Netherlands on 1 October. The coming weeks will show whether the film performs better outside the United States and whether word of mouth can still improve the American figures. On Sunday morning, it is still too early to reach a definitive judgement on the financial outcome.