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Staffers for First Lady Melania Trump mocked Tom Cruise after his latest film "Digger" flopped at the box office, noting that their documentary about Melania outperformed it financially. "Digger," costing around $150 million and spending nearly $100 million on marketing, grossed only $20 million globally in its debut, making it one of the year's largest failures. By contrast, the lower-budget documentary "MELANIA" earned $16.7 million overall despite opening in fewer theaters than "Digger."
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Tom Cruise's latest film Digger, directed by Academy Award-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, had a disastrous opening weekend at the box office in North America, grossing only $8 million. Despite an initial production budget of $125 million and marketing costs estimated around $100 million, the film earned just $1.2 million in previews and is projected to earn between $12-15 million domestically during its first weekend, far below expectations. The poor performance follows a series of flops for Warner Bros., including The Bride!, Supergirl, and others. Worldwide, Digger pulled in $20 million. In contrast, the low-budget documentary "Melania: A First Lady's Journey" outperformed it on a per-theater average, leading to mockery from Melania Trump's staff.
Written for “Digger Box Office Failure” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans left for article 61166 (medium confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-06
Claims extracted
16
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
58.9
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
3
Entertainment
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Staffers for First Lady Melania Trump mocked Tom Cruise on Tuesday after his latest big-budget film flopped at the box office, pointing out that her low-budget biographical documentary outperformed his newest release on a per-theater average.
Marc Beckman, a senior advisor to the first lady, posted the comparison online following a disastrous opening weekend for Cruise’s environmental satire “Digger.”
Pairing Cruise with director Alejandro G. Iñárritu for a billionaire satire initially seemed like a safe bet for Warner Bros.
asserted
Pairing → mock → Bros.
However, the R-rated film opened in more than 3,000 locations to a dismal reception.
asserted
film → rat → reception
Moviegoers rejected Cruise’s departure from action roles to play a gray-haired older man, leaving the movie with a “C” CinemaScore.
asserted
Moviegoers → reject → CinemaScore
The film grossed just $20 million globally in its debut — including a meager $8 million domestically — making it the biggest box-office bomb of Cruise’s career by a wide margin, as reported by Deadline.
asserted
it → gross → Deadline
The studio stated the movie cost $125 million, but outside estimates put the budget closer to $150 million following production delays when co-star John Goodman suffered an injury on set, according to The New York Times.
uncertain
Goodman → state → Times
With nearly $100 million spent on marketing, total losses could reach $150 million, making it one of the year’s largest box-office failures.
uncertain
it → spend → failures
The project’s severe underperformance followed general confusion among both critics and fans over why Cruise agreed to star in the bizarre satire to begin with.
asserted
Cruise → follow → satire
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a divisive 51 percent score from critics and a 72 percent audience rating.
asserted
film → hold → critics
Box-office consultant David A. Gross described the project as an “eccentric story” that ultimately failed to connect with viewers.
asserted
that → describe → viewers
By contrast, the documentary “MELANIA” turned into an unexpected hit.
asserted
documentary → turn → hit
Despite opening in 1,543 fewer theaters than “Digger,” Beckman noted that “MELANIA” beat Cruise’s movie by roughly 67 percent per theater.
asserted
MELANIA → open → theater
The film went on to record the highest opening weekend for a non-fiction movie in a decade, eventually grossing $16.7 million overall.
asserted
film → go → million
Though still a loss on paper, given that Amazon spent $40 million to acquire the documentary and $35 million to market it, the performance far exceeded industry expectations.
asserted
performance → give → expectations
The unexpected theatrical run also provided a career revival for director Brett Ratner, who had been effectively exiled from Hollywood following sexual misconduct allegations during the #MeToo movement.
asserted
who → provide → movement
Leveraging the documentary’s surprising performance, Ratner successfully exited industry isolation and is now set to direct the next installment of the “Rush Hour” franchise — a project President Donald Trump had publicly pushed to get made.
asserted
Trump → leverage → franchise
The overall weekend box office was topped by Amazon MGM’s psychological thriller “Verity,” which opened to $33 million, driven largely by women who embraced the Colleen Hoover adaptation.
asserted
who → top → adaptation
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