CORRIN, Neb. — The Tom Cruise film “Digger,” directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and distributed by Warner Bros., is projected to lose between $245 million and $250 million by the end of its theatrical run, according to projections reported this week by trade publications.
The film opened with $8 million in North American ticket sales and $21 million worldwide. Its second weekend fell 60 percent domestically, bringing its tally to $14.4 million at home and $35.3 million globally. Industry analysts expect the final global gross to reach about $50 million, or $40 million in ticket sales, of which theater owners keep roughly half.
The film cost an estimated $173 million to make and $100 million to market. Trade reports put the studio’s break-even point between $300 million and $350 million globally.
Darlene Fisk, 61, who runs the two-screen Starlite Cinema on Front Street, said she had reviewed the figures and had concluded the picture was a bargain. “A movie that loses a quarter billion dollars has already done the hard part. It showed up. Most of them don’t,” Fisk said. “I had 19 people for the second weekend, and I’d like to think each of them lost about $13 million on my behalf.”
Fisk said the Starlite had shown “Digger” on its larger screen for six days before moving it to the smaller one on a Tuesday, a decision she described as “pricing it the way it’s priced.” Asked whether a film could recover a loss of that size, she said the answer depended on how the film was viewed. “If you look at it as a movie, it’s down. If you look at it as an investment in the future of the movie, it’s a lot of money, and somebody’s going to have to explain it to the people who paid for it,” she said.
Dr. Chad Brickhouse, a senior fellow at the Institute for Common Sense, said by phone from a bowling alley that the loss was consistent with the industry’s principles. “You don’t lose $250 million by accident. You lose it on purpose, and then you do it again, and that’s how you get your money back. It’s just common sense,” Brickhouse said.
Dr. Marjorie Teller, director of the Center for Measured Outcomes, reviewed the box office figures and said the projected recovery depends on a second film with a similar loss. “On the current trajectory, the studio would recoup its investment in roughly 2.6 more films of this quality,” Teller said. “Further study is needed to determine whether the films are of this quality. The Center has applied for funding to determine that.”
Fisk said she had already ordered the popcorn for the sequel, “because you don’t order for a film you hope to lose money on in the middle of the loss.” The Starlite has 40 seats in its smaller auditorium and, by Fisk’s count, enough room for the loss.