Ben Affleck is defending Tom Cruise's "Digger" as the film's box office struggles continue. Speaking on Josh Horowitz's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Affleck compared the online celebration of its failure to high school bullying. He warned that punishing ambitious movies could push Hollywood toward safer, more uniform films. "You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing," he said.
"Digger" has earned about $35.3 million worldwide after two weekends, according to IGN. That follows an opening weekend of roughly $8 million in the U.S. and $12 million overseas. Variety projects a loss of about $245 million for Warner Bros., while IGN puts it closer to $250 million. Both figures are projections, not final accounting, and the film is still in theaters.
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, "Digger" opened Oct. 2. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil baron whose company sets off a disaster, leaving him racing to prove he is humanity's savior. The cast includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman and Jesse Plemons.
Variety also reported that Cruise defended the film after its opening weekend.
Related Article: Tom Cruise's "Digger" Faces A Reported US$245 Million Loss
