Tom Cruise’s latest film Digger is expected to lose around $245 million, with poor box office performance putting it among Hollywood’s biggest commercial failures.

The satirical black comedy, in which Cruise plays oil magnate Digger Rockwell, saw ticket sales fall by around 60% in its second weekend in cinemas.

The film has earned around $35 million worldwide so far, against an estimated $280 million spent on production and marketing by studio Warner Bros.

According to BBC, Hollywood trade publication Variety expects Digger to end its theatrical run with around $50 million in global box office revenue.

The film would need to earn around $350 million to break even, factoring in production and marketing costs, cinema operators’ share of ticket sales and a potential awards-season campaign. A Warner Bros spokesperson, however, told Variety that the break-even point was closer to $300 million.

The film’s performance could place it alongside major Hollywood flops such as Cutthroat Island (1995), The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), Sahara (2005) and John Carter (2012), all of which suffered substantial financial losses.

Other films that reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars include Mars Needs Moms (2011), The 13th Warrior (1999), Speed Racer (2008), Amsterdam (2022) and The Marvels (2023).

The disappointing performance comes despite Cruise’s recent success with major franchises, including Top Gun and Mission: Impossible.

Cruise said last week that he did not make films with opening-weekend earnings in mind, adding that he wanted to create movies that would endure and evolve over time.

Directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, known for Birdman, Babel and The Revenant, Digger was Warner Bros’ final standalone release before the studio’s recent takeover by Paramount.

The film received generally poor reviews from critics, prompting Warner Bros to launch a new marketing campaign urging audiences to “decide for yourself”.