[Anchor]

In Hollywood, a film starring Tom Cruise is currently drawing significant attention. With deeply divided reviews and a major box office failure, even Hollywood stars have jumped into the debate.

Reporter Lee Joo-hyoung has more.

[Reporter]

The film in question is "Digger."

The title means a person who digs the ground.

As a black comedy satirizing an American oil tycoon who causes a massive environmental disaster and a bumbling White House struggling to handle the situation, reactions have been polarized since its release.

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

With the world's top star actor, a back-to-back Academy Award-winning director, and a century-old major Hollywood studio investing around 300 billion won (approx. $216 million), the film hit rock bottom at the box office.

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

Local media outlets 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 stepped up to publicly support the film.

Anne Hathaway gave the movie top ratings and urged people 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 look at box office numbers.

Ben Affleck appeared on a podcast and said that if movies that take risks like "Digger" stop coming out, audiences will only end up watching terrible, formulaic films.

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

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

How much budget should be allowed for artistic daring?

(Video Journalist: Shin Jin-soo | Video Editor: Choi Hye-young | Designer: Bang Min-ju | VJ: Oh Se-kwan)