Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's satire starring Tom Cruise, opened in the United States on October 2, 2026. Its domestic opening weekend was about $8 million, with roughly $20 million worldwide, according to Consequence's report of Variety's figures.
In the same two weeks, the film's popularity score on The Movie Database (TMDb), which Incoming records every day, climbed from 21.5 to 231.9. That is a rise of more than tenfold.
Both numbers are accurate. They measure different things, and the gap between them is a useful lesson for anyone who reads a "most anticipated" list as a box-office forecast.
What the Box Office Says
The opening was small for a film this expensive. The Rotten Tomatoes page lists a 53% Tomatometer from 333 reviews, and the film's Wikipedia entry reports a Metacritic score of 46 and a CinemaScore of C+.
Then the numbers fell quickly. ComingSoon's third-weekend report, published October 18, gives the pattern:
- The second weekend dropped 60%, to $3.2 million.
- The third weekend dropped 71%, to $920,000, from just 786 theaters.
- After three weekends the film had $17.2 million domestically and $41.7 million worldwide.
The cost side is disputed. Wikipedia notes a reported $125 million greenlight budget, with industry reports of $160 million to $180 million, while Warner Bros. has said it kept to $125 million. A Warner Bros. spokesperson told Variety the film needs roughly $300 million worldwide to break even, per the Consequence report above.
ComingSoon also notes that $8 million was Cruise's lowest opening as a leading man in 19 years. The last film to open that low for him was Lions for Lambs in 2007.
What Our Data Saw
Incoming takes a daily snapshot of every title's TMDb popularity score. According to TMDb's own documentation, the score is built from activity on TMDb: votes, page views, favorites and watchlist additions that day, plus the film's release date, its total votes and the previous day's score. It does not include ticket sales.
Here is Digger through the last day of our dataset:
- September 21: 21.5
- September 22 (London premiere): 24.3
- September 27: 62.4
- October 1: 140.9
- October 2 (U.S. release): 183.2
- October 4 (opening weekend reported): 204.0
- October 5: 231.9
Two things stand out. The score started rising before release and accelerated into opening day, which is what you would expect from a film with a famous star and a well-publicized director. And it kept rising on October 5, the first day after the opening weekend numbers were published. We cannot say why from this data alone, but it is a reminder that attention does not wait for good news.
It Happened to Another Film Too
The Uprising, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Andrew Garfield, is a smaller case. It opened in the U.S. on September 10 through Focus Features. Wikipedia lists a $20 million budget and an $8.2 million box office total, and says the opening weekend was $3.3 million, below a projected $5 million.
In our data, its popularity score barely moved for two weeks after release, staying near 31. Then Rotten Tomatoes' listing shows a streaming release date of September 29. Our score jumped to 104.6 on September 30 and reached 177.7 by October 5, about 5.6 times its level on September 29.
Same pattern, different trigger. For Digger the surge arrived with the theatrical release. For The Uprising it arrived when people could watch at home.
What Popularity Can and Can't Tell You
A popularity score is a measure of curiosity. It rises when a trailer lands, when a premiere happens, when a film becomes easy to watch, and when people are arguing about it. It says little about whether anyone bought a ticket.
That matters because curiosity can be a reaction to a story. A film that is described as one of a star's worst openings in years will draw its own wave of searches and page views. Those count the same as admiration.
Editorial Take: We track attention because it is the earliest signal a release gives off, and it is useful for knowing what people are talking about. But attention is only the first half of a release's story. The second half is whether people then pay, show up and recommend it. Digger is a clean example of a film where the first half was loud and the second half was quiet. When you read any hype list, including ours, treat it as a measure of interest, not a forecast.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Digger released? In the United States on October 2, 2026, through Warner Bros. Pictures. It premiered at the Royal Film Performance in London on September 22, according to Wikipedia.
Who is in Digger? Tom Cruise stars, with Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons. Alejandro G. Iñárritu directed.
How much did Digger make? About $41.7 million worldwide, including $17.2 million domestically, after three weekends, per ComingSoon on October 18. The opening weekend was about $8 million domestic and $20 million worldwide.
Why did Digger struggle at the box office? There is no single confirmed reason. Reviews were mixed (53% on Rotten Tomatoes, 46 on Metacritic, C+ CinemaScore), the film is reported to have cost between $125 million and $180 million, and the second and third weekends dropped by 60% and 71%.
What is TMDb's popularity score? A daily score on The Movie Database based on same-day votes, views, favorites and watchlist additions, plus release date, total votes and the previous day's score. It measures attention on TMDb, not ticket sales.
Is a high popularity score a sign a film will do well? Not by itself. In our data, both Digger and The Uprising saw large popularity jumps around a release while their box office totals stayed small.
Popularity figures are Incoming's daily snapshots of TMDb's score, through October 6, 2026. Box office and review figures are from the sources linked above and can change. Tracking what arrives next across movies, TV, games, music and books at incoming.to.