Ben Affleck has criticized the public celebration of Digger’s box office failure, comparing the reaction to “high school bullying.” During an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor-director defended ambitious filmmaking and warned that mocking commercial disappointments could discourage filmmakers from taking creative risks.
Ben Affleck criticizes the celebration of Tom Cruise’s Digger box office failure
Affleck discussed the issue on the Happy Sad Confused podcast while reflecting on his own career and his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone (2007). He recalled that part of his pitch for the film was that he would not star in it, amid negative public perceptions of him as a movie star.
Affleck said, “It’s one thing to be unknown. It’s another thing to be like, ‘No, we know who you are. We just don’t like you.’” He added that the reception to Gone Baby Gone gradually helped change that perception, even though the reviews were not universally enthusiastic.
Drawing a comparison with the reaction to Digger, Affleck said, “It’s a little bit like the high school bullying thing.” He argued that people seemed eager to celebrate the film’s commercial struggles despite its ambitious approach and the talent involved.
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise, Digger arrived in theaters on October 2. The black comedy divided critics and significantly underperformed commercially, earning just over $35 million worldwide to date. The film is projected to lose $250 million by the end of its theatrical run.
However, Affleck believes a film’s financial performance should not overshadow the value of attempting something different. He criticized the focus on how much money the production had lost, warning that such reactions could discourage creative experimentation. He said, “To me, I just think, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you’re going to get? A bunch of s—tty homogenized movies.”
Affleck concluded that meaningful filmmaking requires bold choices, even when they do not succeed. “You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing,” he said. “That means you’re going to sometimes look bad.”
