John Goodman: Negative Buzz Killed Digger — SkimNews
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- John Goodman said negative pre-release headlines, including “This will only make $5,” hurt Digger and “kinda killed us before we even opened,” giving people a reason to avoid the film.
- Digger cost north of $160 million, earned $15 million in its domestic debut and remained below $50 million worldwide after one month in theaters.
- Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise, drew a 53% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and needed an estimated $350 million to break even in theaters.
- Warner Bros. faces an estimated $250 million theatrical loss on Digger, placing the film among the most costly studio flops in Hollywood history.
- John Goodman said he spent six months making Digger, still cares what critics and audiences think, and is “over it now” while remaining proud of the film.
- Neil Young called Digger “the best film I have ever seen,” while Mandy Patinkin labeled it an “instant classic” and “one of the greatest pieces of film I have ever seen.”
- Ben Affleck said celebrating Digger as a “bomb” ignored its ambition and warned that punishing movies that take risks would produce “a bunch of shitty homogenized movies.”
Why it matters: Warner Bros. faces an estimated $250 million theatrical loss on a film that cost north of $160 million and needed roughly $350 million to break even. The public dispute therefore extends beyond accounting: Affleck argues that punishing ambitious work would leave the industry with “a bunch of shitty homogenized movies.”
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