Tom Cruise's 'Digger' tanks, leaving studio with RM1bil losses
The Tom Cruise-led film 'Digger' has become a significant financial failure, with projected losses reaching nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Critics and industry analysts attribute the poor performance to the film's challenging subject matter and its failure to connect with general audiences.
Why it matters
The failure of a high-budget film featuring a major star illustrates the risks of investing in experimental, art-house projects within the current studio landscape.
The Tom Cruise eco-satire Digger , a movie that was supposed to herald the action hero's return to serious acting, has bombed at the box office, with industry insiders predicting it could lose a quarter of a billion dollars.
The Alejandro Inarritu comedy, featuring Cruise as an eccentric oil baron who must fix the problem he has helped create, was panned by critics and has left audiences cold, leaving studio Warner Bros with a big balance sheet hole just as a merger with Paramount Skydance closes.
After two weeks in theatres, the film has grossed just US$14.4mil in North America and US$35.3mil globally -- tiny numbers for a big-budget movie that points to cumulative losses in the region of US$245mil.
"Financially it has to be considered a disaster," Christopher Rosen of Hollywood trade publication The Ankler told AFP.
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