Oncast Music · Culture Morning

Tom Cruise's Digger tanks at box office

· Fact-checked before it aired. Unconfirmed claims from this segment are not shown.

Tom Cruise's new film “Digger” opened to about $20 million worldwide against a reported $140–180 million budget, drawing poor box-office returns and mixed critical reaction; Cruise later said he was proud of the film.

The joke embeds a claim that DC's “Clayface” opened strong, but available box-office reporting says it “doesn't deliver D.C. Marvel money” while “You Can See Everything” added screens and cash, suggesting a softer opening rather than a strong one.

“Digger” is a box-office disappointment and received mixed reviews, but calling it a failure with critics and audiences overstates it: Rotten Tomatoes shows 51% positive, meaning critics are split, and audience reaction is not reported as an outright failure.

Variety reports that Elvis Presley's music rights holders sued AI company Anthropic for copyright infringement, seeking nearly $50 million in damages.

Variety reports Robert Pattinson praised Steven Soderbergh for stepping in to finish “The Batman Part II” filming after Matt Reeves exited production due to a family matter.

Variety reports Juno Temple, Joey King and James McAvoy are set to star in the sci-fi AI comedy “Almost You,” directed by Matt Lipsey.

Fact-check

VERIFIED TRUE

Tom Cruise's new film “Digger” opened to about $20 million worldwide against a reported $140–180 million budget, drawing poor box-office returns and mixed critical reaction; Cruise later said he was proud of the film.

Tom Cruise faces criticism after his new movie flops at the box office, sparking negative reactions. https://t.co/H4Ie0dGrY4 https://t.co/LAziCfsI10

Original post · Radar Online (@radar_online)

[digitalspy.com](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a74025592/tom-cruise-digger-box-office-bomb/) NAMES: Digger = Tom Cruise's 2026 satirical black comedy direct

VERIFIED MISLEADING

The joke embeds a claim that DC's “Clayface” opened strong, but available box-office reporting says it “doesn't deliver D.C. Marvel money” while “You Can See Everything” added screens and cash, suggesting a softer opening rather than a strong one.

USER: DC’s new movie Clayface just opened strong at the box office. WITSCRIPT: Which proves America still loves two things: superheroes and wet pottery.

Original post · @witscript

rogersmovienation NAMES: Clayface = DC Comics villain and 2026 film; DC = Detective Comics/DC Studios; Marvel = Marvel Studios.

VERIFIED MISLEADING

“Digger” is a box-office disappointment and received mixed reviews, but calling it a failure with critics and audiences overstates it: Rotten Tomatoes shows 51% positive, meaning critics are split, and audience reaction is not reported as an outright failure.

This discussion started with a Digger fan (in his name) attacking Marvel fans for caring about box office While Digger was a failure with critics, audiences & the box office https://t.co/o4v9kcfCvW

Original post · Stale King (@staleking)

[digitalspy.com](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a74025592/tom-cruise-digger-box-office-bomb/) NAMES: Digger = Tom Cruise's 2026 film.

VERIFIED TRUE

Variety reports that Elvis Presley's music rights holders sued AI company Anthropic for copyright infringement, seeking nearly $50 million in damages.

Elvis Presley’s Music Owners Sue Anthropic for Copyright Infringement, Demand Nearly $50 Million in Damages - A collection of stakeholders and music companies that control the rights to Elvis Presley’s music sued Anthropic for copyright infringement, telling a federal court the A

Original post · Variety

[variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/elvis-presley-music-sue-anthropic-copyright-infringement-1236931149/) NAMES: Anthropic = AI company.

VERIFIED TRUE

Variety reports Robert Pattinson praised Steven Soderbergh for stepping in to finish “The Batman Part II” filming after Matt Reeves exited production due to a family matter.

Robert Pattinson Praises Steven Soderbergh for Stepping in to Finish ‘Batman 2′ Filming After Matt Reeves’ Exit: ‘Completely Selfless’ - Robert Pattinson recently told GamesRadar+ that he is looking forward to finishing production on “The Batman Part II” with Steven Soderbergh ta

Original post · Variety

[variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/robert-pattinson-soderbergh-batman-2-filming-matt-reeves-exit-1236931146/) NAMES: Matt Reeves = director; Steve

VERIFIED TRUE

Variety reports Juno Temple, Joey King and James McAvoy are set to star in the sci-fi AI comedy “Almost You,” directed by Matt Lipsey.

Juno Temple, Joey King and James McAvoy to Star in Sci-Fi Comedy Film ‘Almost You’ From ‘Ted Lasso’ Director Matt Lipsey (EXCLUSIVE) - Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso,” “Fargo”), Joey King (“We Were the Lucky Ones,” “The Act”) and James McAvoy (“The Last King of Scotland,” “Atonement”) a

Original post · Variety

[variety.com](https://variety.com/2026/film/global/juno-temple-joey-king-james-mcavoy-sci-fi-comedy-almost-you-1236931063/) NAMES: Ted Lasso = Apple TV+ comedy

Sources

What the hosts said

LTom Cruise's new movie Digger just opened to twenty million dollars worldwide. The budget? Reports say a hundred eighty million.
CTwenty million against that? That's not a bomb, that's a crater.
LRadar Online is already piling on, and the fan fights are ugly. A Digger fan account attacked Marvel fans for caring about box office, and now everyone's pointing out Digger failed with critics and audiences.
CHold on. "Failed with critics" is not accurate. Rotten Tomatoes has it at fifty-one percent, that's mixed, not a disaster. And Cruise said he's proud of it.
LFifty-one is not exactly a recommendation. Audiences aren't showing up either. That's a star vehicle that couldn't pull people in.
CBut it's a satirical black comedy from Iñárritu. That's not a four-quadrant crowd-pleaser. Comparing it to a Marvel movie is apples to oranges.
LSo what? Cruise used to open anything. Top Gun Maverick made a billion and a half. Now he does a weird art film and it flops. Maybe star power is fading.
COr maybe he's finally doing interesting work and the marketing was confusing. I'd rather see him take a swing than do Mission Impossible twelve.
LYou can't pay bills with artistic integrity. Hollywood is a business. If Tom Cruise can't open a movie, what's left?
CThat's exactly the problem. The business model is broken if only sequels and superheroes work. Digger failing doesn't mean Cruise is done, it means original mid-budget films are dying.
LBut this wasn't mid-budget, it was huge. They spent a fortune. So the risk didn't pay off.
CFair, but that's on the studio for greenlighting that budget for a satire. They should have known better.
LOr Cruise should have known better. He's reportedly a producer too, and he signed off.
CAnd he's defending it. That's more than most stars do when their film tanks.
LDefending a flop is easy PR. Box office tells the truth: nobody wanted to see it.
CI think there's a difference between "nobody wanted to see it" and "the release was mishandled." We don't know the full story yet.
LOkay, moving on. There's a joke going around that DC's Clayface opened strong. But actually, it didn't.
CRight, the joke said it proved America loves superheroes and wet pottery. But the fact-check says Clayface didn't deliver Marvel-level money.
L"Wet pottery" is still funny. But a prediction market alert says Clayface underperformed, and that other film You Can See Everything is adding screens.
CSo the joke is based on a false premise. Audiences might be tired of cape stuff, but they're going to see something else. What even is You Can See Everything?
LIt's a film in release, maybe a comedy? The odds on Polymarket for its second weekend above twenty-one million dropped to twenty-five percent.
CSo even that one is fading. The whole box office is soft right now.
LIt's a weird time for movies. Tom Cruise flops, Clayface flops, and the only trending thing is a BTS member using a song in an Instagram post.
CPop Crave says Jungkook used a song called Talk by Lambb. No confirmation yet, but fans are already dissecting it.
LIs that even news? Jungkook posts a song and the internet loses its mind.
CFor BTS fans, everything is news. But I couldn't verify it, so take it as rumor.
LI'll stick with box office disasters. More interesting than someone's playlist.
CYou'd rather talk about a clay monster flopping than a pop star's story? That tells me everything about you.
LI like big swings and big misses. Not social media breadcrumbs.
CFair enough. The box office is where the real story lives, so we'll keep watching it.
LWet pottery it is.

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