Spent 300 Billion Won But Bombed at the Box Office... Why Hollywood Stars Support It

[Anchor]

Hollywood is buzzing over a single film. Starring Tom Cruise, the movie has been a massive box office failure, yet reviews are mixed. It has even sparked debates among Hollywood stars.

Reporter Lee Joo-hyoung has the details.

[Reporter]

The film in question is "Digger."

It literally means someone who digs the earth.

A black comedy satirizing an American oil tycoon who caused a massive environmental disaster and a fumbling White House stumbling around to clean up the mess, the movie has drawn polar opposite reactions since its release.

It stars Tom Cruise, is directed by Alejandro Inarritu, and was produced by Warner Bros.

Bringing together a top global star actor, a back-to-back Academy Award-winning director, and a century-old major Hollywood studio with an investment of around 300 billion won, the film hit rock bottom at the box office.

Even in South Korea, where Tom Cruise visited in person to promote it, the film failed to attract 100,000 moviegoers even after more than 20 days since its release.

Local media attribute the box office failure to the actor's transformation away from public expectations, a somewhat complex play-within-a-play structure, and high production costs.

However, some Hollywood stars have publicly stepped up to support the film.

Anne Hathaway gave the movie the highest rating and told audiences to go see it and judge for themselves, while renowned director Guillermo del Toro posted on social media urging people to love art rather than just looking at box office figures.

Ben Affleck appeared on a podcast to say that without films that take risks like "Digger," audiences will end up watching mediocre and uniform movies.

[Tom Cruise / Lead Actor in "Digger": From a cinematic perspective, it is a work that elevates the level of filmmaking in every aspect.]

As the final theatrical release by the traditional Warner Bros. before its merger and acquisition by a tech industry tycoon family, the box office failure of "Digger" poses a question to the film industry:

How much budget is allowed for artistic risk-taking?

(Video footage by Shin Jin-soo | Video editing by Choi Hye-young | Design: Bang Min-ju | VJ: Oh Se-kwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.