The fanfare at Digger’s world premiere in London four weeks ago was literal. As the Prince and Princess of Wales took to the stage, their arrival was heralded by the band of the Irish guards’ fanfare team – bugles gleaming, epaulets shining, bearskin bonnets rippling under the lights. Given the occasion, the band were not overdressed.
Joining William (velvet tux) and Kate (chiffon gown, the late Diana’s earrings) to introduce the film was cinema’s longest-reigning monarch, Tom Cruise (Armani), along with a retinue including director Alejandro González Iñárritu and co-stars Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons and Michael Stuhlbarg. Loyal courtiers filled the front rows: Salma Hayek, Hannah Waddingham and no fewer than three Beckhams (David, Cruz and Romeo). The film itself started two hours late, thanks to Cruise’s trademark completism with red carpet selfies and autographs.
If anyone has earned the right to keep 800 people waiting as the babysitter fees mount and they lose all feeling in their legs, it is surely the one remaining unassailable movie star, that most grinning and irresistible enigma, the man who “saved Hollywood’s ass” when Top Gun: Maverick tempted people back to multiplexes after two years of Covid. At 11pm, when the lights came up, the mood was different. Applause, too, of course, but also murmurings and scurries for the exit, only slightly hobbled by pins and needles.
Could it be that this hottest of tickets was actually a stone cold turkey? The world premiere turned out to be the high point of Digger’s theatrical run. When the film opened worldwide a week later, reeling from almost universally horrified reviews, the box office was appalling – and things went downhill from there.
Digger made $8m over its first weekend in the US, before dropping 60% for its second. Its international opening was yet worse: $12m across 74 territories, for a per country average of $6.1k. So far, Digger has made $37.7m.
Estimates suggest a final haul of $50m. Originally budgeted at $125m, production on the six-month shoot spiralled to about $175m. A further $100m was spent on marketing.
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