The climate change comedy cost over $170 million to make and grossed just $8 million on opening weekend


Tom Cruise in "Digger" (Credit: Warner Bros.)

"Digger," the quirky, end-of-the-world satire starring Tom Cruise, is poised to lose a stunning $250 million by the end of its run, TheWrap has learned, even when factoring in post-theatrical revenue. It is by far the biggest loss for the movie star, and one of the largest losses in recent years of movie releases.

Skydance executives were shocked to learn the extent of the loss of the Warner Bros. movie directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu when the company was handed over this week.

Previous reports put the projected loss at approximately $125 million, but it is expected to be more extensive after earning just $8 million domestically and $21 million globally at the box office in its opening weekend.

The film is not expected to exceed $40 million in worldwide box office, according to insiders at Skydance.

A Warner Bros. representative had no comment.

The budget of the movie, according to multiple insiders, was $173 million, though part of that was due to an unexpected insurance settlement. Another insider put the final budget at $163 million. The marketing budget was about $100 million, mostly related to Cruise's global press tour.

The film was also fully financed by Warner Bros., unlike other projects like "Dune," which often have financial partners.

The film, with Cruise playing a rich oil magnate whose wells trigger a global environmental catastrophe, garnered mixed reviews, with some finding the film confusing while others hailed it as bold and comically over the top.

Cruise is barely recognizable as Digger, a paunchy, balding billionaire living with a dying cat among mounted stuffed animals.

"Digger" was one of several big swings on auteur filmmakers from Warner Bros. Pictures heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca. Some worked, like "Sinners" ($327 million, 4 Oscars) and "One Battle After Another" ($213 million, 6 Oscars, including Best Picture). Others, like Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Bride!" ($24 million), did not.

But "Digger" was considered a coup when first greenlit (by David Zaslav himself, TheWrap is told), as it marked the first film in a new pact with Cruise — one of the biggest movie stars in the world — to make original and franchise films with Warner Bros. Pairing him with Iñárritu, one of only three directors to win back-to-back Best Director Oscars, seemed like a no-brainer. But after a decade and a half of entertaining audiences by showing he could do really-for-real death-defying stunts, Cruise's appeal didn't carry over to a heavy-prosthetic transformation in a climate change satire.

De Luca and Abdy were dismissed by David Ellison, who has put Paramount's Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein in charge of overseeing the film output for both Paramount and Warner Bros. under the newly formed Skydance.

They'll have another stab at a Tom Cruise hit in "Days of Thunder 2," which starts production next year for Paramount and co-stars Anne Hathaway.

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