Tom Cruise ‘Digger’ Bombs as Paramount Absorbs Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. exits its century-long run as an independent Hollywood studio this week with a $250 million financial crater on its balance sheet. “Digger,” the Alejandro G. Iñárritu satire starring Tom Cruise, collapsed in its opening weekend with just $8 million domestically and $12 million across 74 international markets, arriving days before Paramount Skydance formally closes its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The timing transforms a standard box-office disappointment into a definitive marker of shifting industry strategy. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the merger Wednesday, with closing scheduled for Tuesday. The incoming leadership team — David Ellison, Josh Greenstein, and Dana Goldberg — inherits a studio that failed to produce a single $100 million domestic hit this year outside of franchise tentpoles like the upcoming December release “Dune: Part III.”

Studio co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are expected to depart immediately upon the transfer of power. Their tenure leaned heavily on auteur-driven original filmmaking, a model that yielded the Academy Award-winning “One Battle After Another” last year but stumbled catastrophically with “Digger.” That earlier success grossed $213.2 million worldwide, proving the strategy could work under ideal conditions. The follow-up attempt carried a production budget estimated between $125 million and $150 million, plus roughly $100 million in global marketing costs, demanding a theatrical return far beyond what audiences delivered.

Original, politically charged films carrying nine-figure budgets have become increasingly rare across major studios. The economics of theatrical distribution now heavily favor established intellectual property, sequels, and adaptations. When studios do greenlight expensive original concepts, they typically attach them to proven commercial directors rather than arthouse filmmakers attempting mainstream satire. Iñárritu’s previous English-language features, including “The Revenant” and “Birdman,” succeeded largely on prestige and awards momentum, but those releases operated in a pre-pandemic theatrical landscape more tolerant of slow-burn adult dramas.

Cruise, 64, personally drove the promotional campaign for “Digger,” granting his first lengthy magazine interview in years to generate press coverage. His presence has historically insulated films from total commercial failure. Yet his recent track record relies almost entirely on established action franchises. “Top Gun: Maverick” and the “Mission: Impossible” series capitalized on decades of audience familiarity. Outside those properties, his last significant commercial stumble was 2017’s “The Mummy,” which attempted to launch Universal’s Dark Universe and grossed $409.2 million worldwide against a $195 million budget — a figure considered a failure given the marketing spend and franchise expectations attached to it.

“Digger” faced insurmountable headwinds before tickets went on sale. Critical reception was hostile, with reviewers dismissing the climate change farce as strained. The film holds a 51% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though Cruise’s exaggerated performance drew slightly warmer notices. General audiences echoed critical fatigue, assigning the film a “C+” CinemaScore. Historically, films scoring below a “B-” rarely hold screens past their second weekend, as negative word-of-mouth accelerates attendance drop-offs by 60% or more compared to better-received titles.

The poor reception forced Warner Bros. into an unusual defensive marketing posture late in the campaign, pivoting to advertisements urging consumers to “decide for yourself” — a tactic studios typically deploy only when internal tracking data confirms a film is hemorrhaging its target demographic.

While Warner Bros. faltered, Amazon MGM demonstrated the enduring reliability of adapted literary IP. “Verity,” directed by Michael Showalter, topped the North American box office with $32.6 million. Starring Dakota Johnson as a ghostwriter hired by an incapacitated author played by Anne Hathaway, the thriller continues a lucrative streak for Colleen Hoover adaptations following the massive success of “It Ends With Us.” Book-to-screen adaptations currently offer studios a built-in readership base that functions similarly to comic book fandoms, significantly reducing the risk associated with original screenplays.

Further down the chart, Marvel Studios achieved a historic milestone through archival re-releases. “Avengers: Endgame: Encore” earned $4.4 million domestically in its second weekend, dropping to seventh place. However, the cumulative global tally pushed the 2019 superhero film to $2.9255 billion, narrowly surpassing James Cameron’s “Avatar” at $2.9237 billion to reclaim the all-time global box office crown unadjusted for inflation. The two films have traded the top position multiple times over the past seven years as Disney and 20th Century Studios periodically return them to theaters.

Holdovers dominated the remainder of the top five. Sony Pictures’ “Resident Evil,” directed by Zach Cregger, secured second place with $12.5 million in its third weekend. Paramount’s survival drama “Heart of the Beast,” featuring Brad Pitt trekking through the Alaskan wilderness with a combat dog after a plane crash, followed with $11 million. A24’s “Primetime,” Lance Oppenheim’s drama starring Robert Pattinson as former “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, collected $8 million in its second frame.

Final domestic figures for the October 2-4 weekend are scheduled for release Monday by Rentrak, incorporating Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales across U.S. and Canadian theaters. Industry analysts anticipate mass layoffs at Warner Bros. facilities beginning Wednesday as Paramount Skydance initiates operational consolidation.