Alejandro Inarritu’s satire Digger, which stars Tom Cruise in the unrecognizable titular role of a greedy oil tycoon, has bombed at the worldwide box office after an underwhelming opening weekend. Irrespective of the trade estimates, Cruise has hailed the film as an “honour” and a “truly unforgettable experience”. Digger has earned $20 million at the worldwide box office, $8 million in North America, and Rs 1.55 crore in India.

Digger worldwide box office collection

Digger’s opening weekend of $8 million at the North America box office is far lower than the trade predictions between $12 million and $15 million. After adding $12 million it collected overseas, the total worldwide earnings of the film stand at $20 million after three days. This makes Digger Cruise’s lowest opening weekend in nearly two decades.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, it was 19 years ago that a Tom Cruise film opened lower than $8 million in North America. Robert Redford’s 2007 war drama Lions for Lambs, which starred Cruise, Redford, and Meryl Streep, opened at $6.7 million. However, its budget was merely $35 million, almost one-fourth of that of Digger — $125 million. Another $100 million were spent on promotions. As per Guardian, the film is set to lose almost $150 million.

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For the past 30 years, Cruise has consistently struck gold at the worldwide box office, mostly owing to his popular spy franchise Mission: Impossible. Its final instalment which released last year, Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, opened at $24.8 million in North America, and $64 million (more than three times of Digger) in North America. Made on a budget of almost $400 million, it eventually amassed almost $600 million at the worldwide box office.

DIGGER is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists. 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.

1/3

— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) October 3, 2026

Despite Cruise’s superstardom, Digger couldn’t even emerge as the box office favourite in North America this weekend. It lost that spot to Michael Showalter’s erotic psychological thriller Verity. The Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson-starrer received even more negative reviews than Inarritu’s satire, but ended up earning $32.8 million during its opening weekend, likely to recover its modest budget of $40 million this week.

The trajectory of Digger was no different at the India box office. On its first Sunday (day 3), the Cruise-starrer earned only Rs 45 lakh, as much as it did on its first Saturday (day 2) from 400 plus screens. It hasn’t even crossed the daily mark of Rs 1 crore yet, opening at Rs 78 lakh this past Friday on October 2, despite it being a holiday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

The box office performance of Digger has also been impacted by the homegrown juggernaut that is Abhishek Pathak’s crime thriller Drishyam 3. The Ajay Devgn-starrer amassed Rs 176.50 crore from 17,000 plus screens at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, whereas Digger could only pull off Rs 1.80 crore gross and Rs 1.55 crore net in the same period.

Tom Cruise hails Digger as an ‘honour’

Despite Digger’s underwhelming opening at the North America box office on Friday, and trade estimates of the opening weekend landing around $8 million, Cruise took to social media on Saturday morning to celebrate his new release. He shared pictures from the set — of him in the unrecognizable avatar as Digger Rockwell, alongside John Goodman, who plays the US President, Riz Ahmed (scientist Ganesh), Sandra Huller (Emma Rockwell), Michael Showalter (US Vice President), Jesse Plemons (Kenny), and director Inarritu among others.

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“DIGGER is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists. 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,” wrote the actor as the caption on his X handle.

Filmmaker Ron Howard, who directed Cruise in 1992 Western romantic adventure epic Far and Away, commented on the actor’s post and heaped praises on Digger. “Impressive on so many levels. Great twists….Outstanding performance, Tom. Your work in Digger has to be seen, thought about and discussed to be fully appreciated. It’s one of those rare ones. Full of surprises and great choices. Bravo,” he wrote.