We’re fairly sure that, while everyone talks about the flop of Digger, Tom Cruise is not pleased with the worldwide box office results, but he isn’t truly remorseful for having pushed himself to the limit in a somewhat different way from the usual stunts: it hasn’t always been just about the “I do everything without a double” motto, but also a actor who contributed to works like Born on the Fourth of July and Eyes Wide Shut, not to be forgotten. For this reason, it is striking, in a Deadline article, to learn about the genesis of Digger, which its director Alejandro González Iñárritu had begun to shape elsewhere… and with another star.
Leonardo DiCaprio Was Supposed to Play Digger Instead of Tom Cruise
Yes, apparently it was Leonardo DiCaprio the lead chosen by Alejandro González Iñárritu for Digger, when the project was still in its infancy. At that time the director was working for the auteur Netflix, now in the process of winding down, and the film was titled Blah, Blah, Blah. We’re talking about the 2020-2021 period, when Iñárritu for the platform delivered the nearly three hours of the liberally conceived Bardo. It is said that DiCaprio was interested in what would later become Digger, but Netflix had simultaneously proposed another apocalyptic-flavored political satire, namely Don’t Look Up: since the subject was related, Leonardo would never have made both projects, and as we know he chose Adam McKay’s film, which seems to be detested on paper (not by those who write this), but with massive viewership.
And thus was born the curious cinematic creature Digger, born of the courage (to some, recklessness) of Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, presidents of Warner Bros. Pictures, now stepping down because of the Paramount-Warner merger: Cruise himself said he was surprised at how they approved the film, allocating, without too many scruples, reportedly $125 million of budget, for what is effectively an auteur film and not a blockbuster… and which seems to have ended up costing even more, around $180, not counting tax incentives in England, where it was shot. With a worldwide opening of only $20 million, the notion that it might at least surpass $300 million to see a possible break-even is far-fetched. Naturally, one must always bear in mind that not every flop means an “useless” film: another gamble by Abdy and De Luca was Paul Thomas Anderson’s A Battle After Another, but this did not prevent his work from being remembered by those who appreciated it, also thanks to the Oscars it received, namely Best Picture, Best Director, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Casting and Editing. Will the time be kind to Digger as well?
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