Tom Cruise's audacious 'Digger' opens to divided reviews and a tepid box-office outlook

"Digger," the strange and heavily hyped collaboration between Tom Cruise and Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu, opened in theaters nationwide Friday to a critical reception that even its admirers describe as polarizing. Cruise stars as a wealthy tycoon racing to contain an environmental catastrophe of his own making while trying to convince the public he is humanity's savior rather than its destroyer, a sharp pivot for an actor who has spent the past decade almost entirely in action franchises.

Early reactions from press screenings, compiled by TheWrap, were strikingly split. Critic Scott Menzel called the film "ambitious, messy and strange," while Variety's Clayton Davis described it as "not what people are expecting." Reviewers were far more unified on Cruise's performance itself, which was almost universally praised, with newcomer Sophie Wilde singled out as a potential breakout among a supporting cast that includes John Goodman and Riz Ahmed.

Shot by three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, the film has been described by early viewers as Kubrick-influenced, built around a satire of corporate hubris whose effectiveness critics are still debating. It marks Iñárritu's first English-language feature since "The Revenant" and his first collaboration with Cruise.

That combination has not translated into confident box-office projections. Tracking for the $135 million production has slipped sharply in recent weeks, with industry estimates for the opening weekend falling from an initial $30 million to a range of roughly $8 million to $15 million, according to Variety. The film also faces direct competition from Anne Hathaway's "Verity," a romantic thriller opening the same weekend that trackers expect to debut closer to $30-35 million.

Still, studio executives and Cruise's own camp have signaled they are treating "Digger" as a prestige and awards-season play rather than a pure commercial vehicle. Whether audiences embrace a Cruise picture built on discomfort and ambiguity rather than stunts and spectacle will become clearer once full weekend numbers are reported Sunday.