Tom Cruise's 'Digger' faces $245 million loss as sequel to 'The Social Network' stalls

Digger, Tom Cruise’s latest satirical black comedy, is expected to lose roughly $245 million after its worldwide gross of about $35 million fails to cover the $280 million cost of production and promotion. Ticket sales plunged by around 60% in the film’s second weekend, and industry estimates suggest a final total near $50 million, well below the $300-$350 million break-even threshold cited by Warner Bros. The movie’s poor performance contrasts sharply with recent Cruise franchise successes such as Top Gun and Mission: Impossible installments.

Directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, Digger was the final solo release from Warner Bros before its recent acquisition by Paramount. Meanwhile, the sequel to The Social Network, titled The Social Reckoning, earned $5.5 million domestically and about $9 million globally, a fraction of the $22 million opening of the original film in 2010. The sequel, written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong and Jeremy Allen White, tells the true story of Facebook engineer Frances Haugan’s whistleblowing. It was outperformed at the U.S. box office by titles such as Other Mommy, Verity, Resident Evil and Heart of the Beast.