Tom Cruise's Full-Court Press Tour Didn't Save 'Digger' From a $3.4 Million Friday
Warner Bros.' R-rated black comedy “Digger” took in $3.4 million from 3,321 North American theaters on its opening Friday, Variety reports. The press push behind it was built around Tom Cruise: a GQ cover, an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast, and a “Risky Business”-inspired walk down the “Jennifer Hudson Show” spirit tunnel. Variety's read is blunt — none of that kept the film from flatlining. A wide release spreads a modest gross very thin, and the Friday number is a snapshot of turnout rather than a verdict on the film. Opening-day figures measure how many people showed up, not whether anyone else will.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
A GQ cover and a spirit-tunnel bit are evidence of effort, not of demand. Studios can buy attention; they can't buy the second weekend.
Or the playbook is just what a studio does now, whatever the movie is. The more interesting question is whether that press tour reached the people who actually go see an R-rated black comedy.