Tom Cruise attempted his biggest swing in years with Digger. The movie is destined to be a box office failure, but that shouldn’t discourage Cruise from taking more chances.
The results are in, and audiences have rejected Digger. The Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed movie grossed an estimated $8 million domestically and $20 million worldwide. Digger had an estimated budget of around $160 million. That figure doesn’t include how much Warner Bros. spent marketing the movie. The movie is on track to lose $150 million, though that could increase if Digger doesn’t get to at least $50 million worldwide.
Cruise can learn a lot about Digger’s failure, from the ambitious premise and dramatic tonal shift to its expensive budget and confusing marketing. However, Cruise avoiding ambitious swings like Digger for the rest of his career would absolutely be a Hollywood tragedy.
Digger’s box office failure should not deter Tom Cruise from taking risks
For the last 20 years, Cruise has predominantly been an action star. As we’ve learned, Cruise is a daredevil who loves to perform his own stunts. It adds to Cruise’s lore and brings something unique to his movies. To his credit, he’s excelled at playing characters like Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible or Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick.
This isn’t an indictment of Cruise’s action motives. He should still be the action star who has defined the last 15 years of his career because he’s great at it. Cruise’s next movie is Days of Thunder 2, which I’m sure will include invigorating action scenes which feature Cruise behind the wheel of a race car.
What matters is that Cruise balances his action movies with different projects that show a different side of him. Cruise going into action mode for another decade would be tragic.
A lot of what happens in Digger doesn’t work. However, Cruise is magnetic in the performance. Digger’s speech to the European Parliament showcases Cruise’s innate charisma and star power audiences have loved for over 40 years.
Financially, Digger will be viewed as an objective failure. Making movies is challenging. Making a black satirical comedy with a complicated premise and significant plot twist is even harder. I’m glad that Cruise took a risk and reminded audiences that there is more to him than stunt work. He still might even land an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, which is a testament to his talent.
Cruise can still make Days of Thunder 2 and Top Gun 3. However, he can’t be an action star forever. Keep taking risks like Digger, and eventually, something will work. I just hope he keeps trying.
