Hurt Tom Cruise hits back at movie backlash and says he's "proud" of Digger despite being a box office bomb

Tom Cruise has said that he's proud of his new movie Digger after it released to very mixed reviews, followed by a poor box office performance.

The satirical black comedy, co-written and directed by Birdman's Alejandro González Iñárritu, follows an ageing old baron who unleashes disaster upon the world, and uses it as an opportunity to paint himself as its saviour. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Jesse Plemons also star.

Despite the talent behind it, the film has only made $20 million worldwide in its opening weekend, on the back of a reported $140-$180 million budget (not including marketing). That's Cruise's worst opening weekend since 2007's Lions for Lambs.

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Over the weekend, Cruise published an Instagram post that reads: "Digger is officially in theaters and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to create this film alongside such talented artists.

"Thank you to the entire cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and joy. The experience was truly unforgettable and I'm so proud of what we created."

The critical reception is an almost perfectly-even split, currently sitting at 51% positive on Rotten Tomatoes from 259 reviews.

The filmmaker, or at least the marketing team, knew that the movie was going to be divisive, as teaser trailers have highlighted the negative reviews in addition to the positive ones.

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In Digital Spy's own three-star review, we predicted that the film wouldn't do that well.

"Digger may ultimately prove too divisive to make much of an impact during the awards season, or even at the box office, but you can't fault its ambition," our review reads.

"It's flawed, for sure, yet with a committed Tom Cruise at its centre, it's the kind of movie you should see to make up your own mind."

Digger is out now in cinemas.

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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.