{"id":872951,"date":"2026-10-06T16:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872951\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T16:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:12:09","slug":"digger-director-reacts-to-scathing-reviews-of-tom-cruise-film-after-opening-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872951\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Digger’ director reacts to scathing reviews of Tom Cruise film after opening weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDigger\u201d director Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u00a0admitted his Tom Cruise-led movie \u201cis not perfect\u201d after it received scathing reviews <\/a>and had a disastrous opening weekend at the box office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think definitely it\u2019s an uncommon film. It\u2019s a provoking film,\u201d I\u00f1\u00e1rritu, 63, told the New York Times <\/a>in an interview published Monday.<\/p>\n

The filmmaker noted that he likes \u201ctaking risks\u201d and prefers polarizing reactions to his projects, rather than a \u201clukewarm reception.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDigger\u201d director Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu (seen here with Tom Cruise) reacted to the scathing reviews of the film in a new interview. Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu admitted the film \u201cis not perfect\u201d but said he likes \u201ctaking risks\u201d (Cruise is seen here in \u201cDigger\u201d). \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the role of a film for me \u2014 let\u2019s start the conversation,\u201d he explained. \u201cMy personal taste is films that try to tell me something in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I\u00f1\u00e1rritu did concede that other people have contrasting opinions about cinema. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s people that want more certainty in the storytelling, and that\u2019s OK too,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cThis is not like an ice cream. So, yeah, we expected that, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The satirical comedy, directed by four-time Oscar winner I\u00f1\u00e1rritu, stars Cruise, 64, as an eccentric and wealthy oil tycoon<\/a> who races to stop a massive global ecological disaster that he caused.<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu (seen here with Cruise) also said he prefers polarizing reactions to his projects, rather than \u201clukewarm reception.\u201d Getty Images for CinemaCon<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s people that want more certainty in the storytelling, and that\u2019s OK too,\u201d the filmmaker said (I\u00f1\u00e1rritu and Cruise are pictured above). Getty Images<\/p>\n

The film, which came out Friday, has a 51% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>. The audience score, meanwhile, is at 71%.<\/p>\n

The Post film critic Johnny Oleksinski gave the movie zero out of four stars, <\/a>calling it a \u201claugh-free turd\u201d that \u201cwill have audiences stampeding out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oleksinski also wrote that I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s \u201cpretentious frame story\u201d causes viewers to \u201cnot take about 90% of the movie seriously and to zone out for long stretches.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film, which cost $135 million (or more) to produce, also failed to perform well in theaters, earning just $8 million domestically in its opening weekend. That\u2019s Cruise\u2019s lowest opening weekend performance in the US since his 2007 film \u201cLions for Lambs,\u201d which opened to $6.7 million.<\/p>\n

Cruise plays a billionaire oil tycoon in \u201cDigger,\u201d which came out on Friday. \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

The film has a 51% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and bombed at the box office during opening weekend (Cruise and Riz Ahmed are seen above in the film). \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

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Page Six exclusively reported that Cruise\u2019s Oscar chances have plummeted <\/a>due to the scathing reviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom is still beloved, but I don\u2019t think people want to see him in a fat suit and makeup \u2014 they want to see him as the action hero,\u201d an industry told us.<\/p>\n

Cruise has never won an Academy Award, though he was given an honorary Oscar <\/a>at the 16th Governors Awards last November.<\/p>\n

Despite the negativity surrounding \u201cDigger,\u201d Cruise said he was \u201cso proud\u201d of the film in an Instagram post<\/a> over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Page Six exclusively reported that Cruise\u2019s Oscar chances have plummeted due to the negative response to the film. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Still, Cruise (seen here with I\u00f1\u00e1rritu) said he was \u201cso proud\u201d of the film in an Instagram post over the weekend. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018DIGGER\u2019 is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

Cruise added, \u201cThe experience was truly unforgettable and I\u2019m so proud of what we created.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDigger\u201d is in theaters now.<\/p>\n

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