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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? Staffers for First Lady Melania Trump<\/a> mocked Tom Cruise<\/a> on Tuesday after his latest big-budget film<\/a> flopped at the box office, pointing out that her low-budget biographical documentary<\/a> outperformed his newest release<\/a> on a per-theater average.<\/p>\n Marc Beckman, a senior advisor to the first lady, posted<\/a> the comparison online following a disastrous opening weekend for Cruise\u2019s environmental satire<\/a> \u201cDigger.\u201d <\/p>\n Pairing Cruise with director Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu for a billionaire satire initially seemed like a safe bet for Warner Bros. However, the R-rated film opened in more than 3,000 locations to a dismal reception. Moviegoers rejected Cruise\u2019s departure from action roles to play a gray-haired older man, leaving the movie with a \u201cC\u201d CinemaScore.<\/p>\n The film grossed just $20 million globally in its debut \u2014 including a meager $8 million domestically \u2014 making it the biggest box-office bomb of Cruise\u2019s career by a wide margin, as reported by Deadline<\/a>. <\/p>\n The studio stated the movie cost $125 million, but outside estimates put the budget closer to $150 million following production delays when co-star John Goodman suffered an injury on set, according to The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n With nearly $100 million spent on marketing, total losses could reach $150 million, making it one of the year\u2019s largest box-office failures.<\/p>\n The project\u2019s severe underperformance followed general confusion among both critics and fans over why Cruise agreed to star in the bizarre satire to begin with.<\/p>\n On Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, the film holds a divisive 51 percent score from critics and a 72 percent audience rating. <\/p>\n Box-office consultant David A. Gross described the project as an \u201ceccentric story\u201d that ultimately failed to connect with viewers.<\/p>\n By contrast, the documentary \u201cMELANIA\u201d turned into an unexpected hit. Despite opening in 1,543 fewer theaters than \u201cDigger,\u201d Beckman noted that \u201cMELANIA\u201d beat Cruise\u2019s movie by roughly 67 percent per theater.<\/p>\n The film went on to record the highest opening weekend for a non-fiction movie in a decade, eventually grossing $16.7 million overall. Though still a loss on paper, given that Amazon spent $40 million to acquire the documentary and $35 million to market it, the performance far exceeded industry expectations.<\/p>\n The unexpected theatrical run also provided a career revival for director Brett Ratner<\/a>, who had been effectively exiled from Hollywood following sexual misconduct allegations<\/a> during the #MeToo movement. <\/p>\n Leveraging the documentary\u2019s surprising performance, Ratner successfully exited industry isolation and is now set to direct the next installment of the \u201cRush Hour\u201d franchise<\/a> \u2014 a project President Donald Trump had publicly pushed to get made.<\/p>\n
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Marc Beckman, a senior advisor to Melania Trump, mocked Tom Cruise online Tuesday after the actor\u2019s latest release, \u2018Digger,\u2019 flopped at the box office. Amazon spent $40 million to acquire \u2018MELANIA\u2019 and $35 million to market it \u2014 the documentary grossed $16.7 million overall (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Cruise\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/MCDDIGG_WB034.webp\")
Cruise\u2019s environmental satire grossed just $20 million globally against a production and marketing budget that could push total losses past $150 million (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n![\"\u2018MELANIA\u2019](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2258954117.jpeg\")
\u2018MELANIA\u2019 provided a career revival for director Brett Ratner, who had been effectively exiled from Hollywood following sexual misconduct allegations during the #MeToo movement. Ratner is now set to direct the next installment of the \u201cRush Hour\u201d franchise, a project President Trump had publicly pushed to get made (Getty Images)<\/p>\n