Ben Affleck Compares Reaction to Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Flop to ‘High-School Bullying

By Jake Campbell•13 October 2026

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Ben Affleck has likened the reaction to Tom Cruise’s Digger to “high-school bullying,” warning that the enthusiasm with which some have celebrated its box office failure could discourage risk-taking in Hollywood.

According to reports, Digger is expected to lose around $250 million, with Warner Bros. anticipating it will cap at roughly $40 million globally. Its opening weekend brought in just $8 million domestically and $12 million internationally, leaving it at $35.3 million worldwide after two weekends.

Variety reported that Digger may go down as one of the biggest Hollywood flops of all time.

Directed by back-to-back Best Director Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant) and starring Tom Cruise, Digger has divided critics and audiences. Efforts have been made to champion the film’s mixed reception, with Hollywood stars defending it, but it does not appear capable of recovering from its initial box office struggles.

Talking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Batman star defended ambitious filmmaking and risk-taking, cautioning that Digger’s reception could push Hollywood toward safer bets such as sequels and recognizable IP adaptations.

“It’s a little bit like the high-school bullying thing,” Affleck argued. “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.

“Everybody wants to count the money, what it lost or whatever. To me, I just think, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you’re going to get? A bunch of stty homogenized movies. You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing. And that means you’re going to sometimes look bad.”

Digger holds a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, alongside a more positive 74% user review score on its Popcornmeter. IGN’s review returned a 6/10, noting: “Digger’s satire may not change your thinking on global warming, but there are excellent performances and more than a few laughs.”

The film trolled the negative reviews in its most recent ad campaign, though this failed to shift reception. Tom Cruise has not yet issued an official statement regarding the situation.