Overview
- Digger opened wide on Oct. 2 to roughly $8 million in North America and about $20–21 million worldwide, figures that triggered early loss estimates.
- After Skydance took over oversight and reviewed the film’s books, insiders told reporters the projected total shortfall has grown to nearly $250 million even after ancillary revenue.
- Those losses reflect reported production costs in the $163–173 million range plus about $100 million spent on marketing, with Warner Bros. having fully financed the picture.
- Exhibitors curtailed many IMAX bookings within days of the weak opening and high-profile endorsements from actors and directors have not changed the near-term box-office math.
- Industry observers say the scale of Digger’s losses could prompt studios to change how they finance, market and distribute costly original auteur projects moving forward.