Ben Affleck warns that celebrating the box office bomb of Tom Cruise’s satirical comedy Digger will encourage studios to abandon risk-taking films in favor of safer, uniform projects. The Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed feature opened domestically to $8 million.
Ben Affleck Defends Risk-Taking Cinema on Podcast Appearance
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ben Affleck addressed the commercial struggles surrounding the new Alejandro G. Iñárritu film starring Tom Cruise. The satirical black comedy debuted in theaters with an $8 million domestic haul alongside a $20 million global start and a C+ CinemaScore, with trade reports indicating the film could lose around $150 million.
It’s a little bit like the high-school bullying thing, with people who hadn’t even seen movies. You see it happening now, frankly, with Digger. Everybody wants to celebrate this bomb as if it’s the most exciting thing to happen. And you think like, it’s a pretty ambitious, interesting movie made by interesting people who have talent.
Ben Affleck
Affleck argued that public satisfaction over a high-profile financial failure creates a damaging industry precedent. He warned listeners against punishing daring cinematic projects.
Everybody wants to count the money, what it lost or whatever. To me, I just think, like, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you’re going to get? A bunch of shitty, homogenized movies. You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing, and that means you’re going to sometimes look bad.
Ben Affleck
Critical Reception and Polarizing Reviews from Trade and Artists
The film has generated intense division among critics and high-profile industry figures. In The Hollywood Reporter review, chief film critic David Rooney characterized the project as the product of unchecked egos, describing the narrative as a heavy-handed satire on global warming.
Digger is basically what happens when you put two outsize egos together with nobody holding the reins to keep their most self-indulgent impulses in check. Piloted by a spectacularly obnoxious Tom Cruise, who evidently spent hours in the makeup chair each day to look his age, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s wannabe Dr. Strangelove is a heavy-handed cataclysm scenario built around the blunt point that any attempt to halt global warming this late in the game is pure political theater.
Photo: deadline.com
David Rooney, chief film critic
Despite the critical friction and a $12 million international gross that brought total early earnings to $20 million, several prominent artists stepped forward with enthusiastic endorsements. Anne Hathaway, whose own film Verity topped opening weekends against Digger, awarded the picture a ten-out-of-ten score on Letterboxd.
I loved this brilliant movie. It’s smart and trippy and aggressive and funny and ambitious. It’s worth making the time see and decide for yourself what you make of it. For me? 10/10.
Anne Hathaway
Praise from Neil Young and Mandy Patinkin Amid Financial Struggles
Musician Neil Young published a glowing assessment on his personal website, rejecting standard commercial metrics entirely when evaluating the project. He urged audiences to approach the project outside the shadow of its leading man.
Ben Affleck Defends The Last Duel After It BOMBED At The Box Office
This film lives in a world of art. It is its own best review. Don’t read any other reviews and forget this one before you see Digger. It cannot be seen as a Tom Cruise film – that would be misleading.
Neil Young
Actor Mandy Patinkin echoed that sentiment, framing the feature as an essential theatrical experience that restores depth to modern filmmaking.
This is an incredible piece of work. It puts the heart and soul back into the cinema. Everything we all love about cinema, this is it. Please, please, please, run! Don’t walk, run, and see this film.
