Tom Cruise has spent the better part of the last 15 years focusing on what he knows best: action movie franchises. He’s made four Mission: Impossible films, Top Gun: Maverick, two Jack Reacher movies, and The Mummy reboot during that time, among other projects. That’s why his 2026 movie Digger is positioned as a pivotal title for him.
Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu is behind the film, which puts Cruise in the lead comedic role as a man who attempts to save the world from a catastrophe he’s responsible for. The first look at Digger promised a very different role for the action star than audiences have grown accustomed to seeing him in recently.
While the film may primarily be an awards play for Cruise, the $125 million budget Warner Bros. gave it also highlights how much faith they have in the star to deliver a substantial return. The 63-year-old actor has no shortage of hits throughout his career, but Digger‘s results will be the first true test for him in nine years.
Digger Will Prove How Big A Box Office Draw Tom Cruise Really Is
The reason for this is that Digger is the first non-franchise movie Cruise has made since 2017’s American Made. Doug Liman’s true story action crime movie had a solid performance in theaters, earning $134 million worldwide, nearly tripling its reported $50 million budget.
After that movie, he made Mission: Impossible – Fallout in 2018 and then took years navigating the pandemic while making Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Those four films were all huge at the box office, collectively making over $3 billion. They all made over $571 million, with Fallout and Maverick each setting Cruise’s highest-grossing movie record at the time of their release (Maverick still holds the record with its $1.4 billion gross).
But after becoming so ingrained with these franchises, Digger will be an opportunity to see if audiences will follow Cruise to theaters even when he’s not playing Ethan Hunt or Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. It’s a wholly original comedy/drama that relies on his stardom to put butts in seats.
The pressure is now on him to deliver and retain his position as a true A-list movie star who can support films of any genre, similar to Leonardo DiCaprio. He is fresh off One Battle After Another‘s $206 million performance. DiCaprio’s team-up with Iñárritu, The Revenant, also made $532 million back in 2015.
The latter would be an outstanding result for Digger, but it doesn’t need to make that much to prove Cruise’s status. A $200M+ performance would probably be seen as a win, even if it technically needs to make about $312 million to be a profitable theatrical release. That would communicate a strong relationship between the star and audiences and suggest he can break free of the action blockbuster mold more frequently.
However, should it crater and finish below $100M, it’ll tell studios and Tom Cruise that what people really want from him is more of the same. More Mission: Impossible. More Top Gun. More action, stunts, and IP. That’s why Digger‘s box office results will be so fascinating to see once it comes out in October.
- Release Date
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October 2, 2026
- Director
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Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Writers
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Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris
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