Tom Cruise’s Digger is likely to be streaming on HBO Max ahead of you suppose

Tom Cruise swung for the fences with Digger. Unfortunately for Cruise and the remainder of Hollywood, the chance hasn’t paid off, with Digger struggling an epic opening-weekend failure on the field workplace.

Released on October 2, Digger opened to $8 million on the home field workplace and $20 million worldwide. That is the worst-case state of affairs for a Cruise movie with an estimated price range north of $160 million. With a profitable theatrical run off the desk, it is attainable Warner Bros. sends Digger to HBO Max ahead of traditional.

What went fallacious with Digger?

Critics and audiences are down on Cruise’s gamble

Digger was all the time seen as an enormous monetary danger. Digger had the price range of an costly blockbuster. However, Digger doesn’t have the death-defying stunts that audiences have change into accustomed to seeing Cruise carry out within the Mission: Impossible and Top Gun movies. It’s Cruise delivering a showy, over-the-top efficiency via intensive prosthetics. That’s rather less thrilling than Ethan Hunt driving a motorbike off a cliff.

Digger ought to have been produced as an artwork home film with a smaller price range as an alternative of a industrial play. Yet Warner Bros. most likely is not touchdown Digger with Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu for a modest price range.

There can be a advertising concern with Digger. While I will not spoil the precise plot twist, a big reveal occurs within the first third of Digger that utterly modifications the film. The promotional supplies and trailers do job hiding the key. However, it is such a jarring twist that it might utterly take you out of the film.

At the top of the day, Digger did not fare nicely with critics or audiences. The black comedy has a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ CinemaScore. A film that prices $160 million faces an uphill battle towards profitability with out sturdy phrase of mouth.

Predicting Digger’s HBO Max streaming date

Could we see Digger on streaming by the top of the 12 months?

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

With Digger flopping on the field workplace, Warner Bros. goes to need to put the film on streaming as quickly as attainable, particularly since Deadline studies it might lead to a $150 million loss for the studio. However, Cruise is a champion of the cinematic expertise and may need a robust clause within the contract that stops Digger from going to streaming with out satisfying a theatrical window.

Warner Bros. has usually put their motion pictures on PVOD (Premium Video on Demand) between 30 and 45 days after a studio launch. PVOD is when you’ll be able to hire a film on digital providers at dwelling. I might see Digger following the same plan, which suggests it should head to PVOD in November. The field workplace failure might push that date as much as late October, however we’ll should see how nicely the film does in its second week.

As for streaming, Warner Bros. motion pictures are inclined to arrive on HBO Max anyplace between 75 and 90 days after a theatrical launch, although its not set in stone. If Digger follows the same plan, meaning it could possibly be on HBO Max across the vacation season on Dec. 25.

Credit: Antonio Olmos/Warner Bros. Pictures

When Joker: Folie à Deux flopped in October 2024, Warner Bros. launched it on HBO Max on Dec. 13, simply 71 days after its theatrical premiere date.

Again, Cruise is a particular exception due to his standing in Hollywood. At Paramount, Cruise’s final film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, was launched in theaters on May 23, 2025. It went to PVOD on Aug. 19, 2025, and Paramount+ on Dec. 4, 2025. That was about six months from its theatrical launch to its streaming debut.

Because of Digger’s monetary setback, I’d be shocked if Cruise’s film was not on HBO Max by the top of the 12 months. Then once more, the inevitable Paramount and Warner Bros. merger would possibly complicate issues additional.

Digger

Release Date

October 2, 2026

Runtime

128 minutes

Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu