Economy

Tom Cruise's Digger heads for a 245 million dollar loss

First-dollar deal pays the star from the first takings while Warner Bros puts break-even at 300 million, the royal premiere ran two hours late on red-carpet autographs

Images

The world premiere turned out to be the high point of Digger’s theatrical run Composite: Alex Mellon/Alex Mellon for the Guardian : Getty Images The world premiere turned out to be the high point of Digger’s theatrical run Composite: Alex Mellon/Alex Mellon for the Guardian : Getty Images theguardian.com
Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Tom Cruise attend the Digger world premiere on 22 September in London, England. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Warner Bros Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Tom Cruise attend the Digger world premiere on 22 September in London, England. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Warner Bros theguardian.com
Digger’s predicted loss catapults it smoothly into the upper echelons of the most costly flops of all time. Photograph: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures Digger’s predicted loss catapults it smoothly into the upper echelons of the most costly flops of all time. Photograph: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures theguardian.com
Alejandro González Iñárritu is only the third person ever to win the Oscar for best director in consecutive years. Photograph: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/AFLO/Shutterstock Alejandro González Iñárritu is only the third person ever to win the Oscar for best director in consecutive years. Photograph: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/AFLO/Shutterstock theguardian.com
Babylon was a critical flop which ‘missed recoupment by $135m’. Photograph: Scott Garfield/AP Babylon was a critical flop which ‘missed recoupment by $135m’. Photograph: Scott Garfield/AP theguardian.com

The Prince and Princess of Wales introduced Digger on stage in London to a fanfare from the Band of the Irish Guards, while around 800 guests waited two hours for Tom Cruise to finish his red-carpet autographs. The lights came up at 11pm to applause, murmurings, and guests hurrying for the exits. Four weeks later, the premiere remains the high point of the film's theatrical run.

Reviews of the Alejandro González Iñárritu film were almost universally horrified. Digger took $8m over its opening US weekend and fell 60 percent in the second, while the international launch grossed $12m across 74 territories — an average of about $6,100 a country. The film has $37.7m so far and is projected to finish near $50m. Against that stands a budget that began at $125m, spiralled to roughly $175m over a six-month shoot, plus $100m in marketing, with cinemas keeping around half of ticket revenue. By the Guardian's arithmetic the film needs $350m to break even.

Cruise's contract is a first-dollar deal: initial takings are diverted to him rather than the studio, which puts the star ahead of the studio in the repayment queue and insulates his fee from the outcome. Adjusted for inflation, Cutthroat Island, Mortal Engines and The Marvels each lost comparable sums — and each made at least double what Digger will. Top Gun: Maverick tempted people back to multiplexes after two years of Covid, and Cruise was described as the man who saved Hollywood's ass. The saviour's cut now comes off the top of one of the industry's costliest flops.

Warner Bros puts break-even closer to $300m. Digger is projected to finish with about a sixth of that.