Veteran actor John Goodman is pushing back against the harsh pre-release media narrative surrounding his latest theatrical feature, Digger, arguing that early critical coverage crippled the Tom Cruise-led drama before moviegoers even had a chance to buy tickets. Speaking with host Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 74-year-old star addressed the commercial failure of director Alejandro G. Iñárritu's ambitious climate-change satire, which opened in theaters on October 2 and now stands to lose Warner Bros. roughly $250 million.

In comments published Monday by Variety and Entertainment Weekly, Goodman admitted that the wave of dismissive headlines and dire box-office projections prior to opening weekend took a personal toll. While acknowledging the sting of the reception, Goodman maintained that he remains proud of the six months he spent working on the production and stands firmly behind the filmmaker's creative vision.

Goodman Addresses the Pre-Release Backlash

During his appearance on the podcast, Goodman pointed directly to the framing of early media coverage as a major deterrent for general audiences. Rather than letting the film find its footing in multiplexes, he argued, the pre-release commentary created an immediate barrier to entry.

"People are talking. It hurt. It kinda killed us before we even opened," Goodman said on the podcast. "[The headlines like]: 'This will only make $5.' It was good reason for people to avoid it. I am proud of it. I had a ball doing it. It was a good six months out of my life. It is a huge swing. It's going to be around for a long time."

Despite decades of experience in film and television, Goodman confessed that he is still sensitive to how critics and audiences respond to his projects. When asked by Horowitz whether negative reviews still bother him at this stage in his career, the actor offered a candid assessment.

"Unfortunately I have to say that I am. I have to be very honest. I used to be less so," Goodman explained. "Maybe I am getting old and pathetic and it's like, 'Don't hit me again!' I put so much into this film and here you go. I am over it now. I am proud I did it."

However, Goodman also placed the theatrical stumble into historical perspective by pointing to his acclaimed collaborations with Joel and Ethan Coen. He noted that "everything I have done for the Coen Brothers flopped initially... so who cares, man? I still have people coming up to me in the streets asking me about Barton Fink and Big Lebowski."

Breaking Down the Box Office Numbers and Studio Losses

In Digger, Cruise stars as a billionaire oil tycoon facing a global catastrophe after one of his drilling rigs in Antarctica malfunctions, sending massive ice caps hurtling toward Europe. Goodman portrays the President of the United States, while Riz Ahmed co-stars as a scientist. Despite the high-profile pedigree in front of and behind the camera, the dark satire struggled to connect with ticket buyers upon its October rollout.

Industry trade outlets have offered differing snapshots of the film's exact financial metrics, though all point to a severe commercial deficit for Warner Bros. According to Variety, Digger carried a production budget north of $160 million, debuted to $15 million domestically, and has yet to cross the $50 million mark worldwide after a full month in theaters. Meanwhile, TheWrap reported that the picture opened to approximately $8 million domestically and $21 million globally, while also noting its inability to surpass $50 million worldwide.

On the higher end of cost estimates, The Independent reported that the film's production budget rose to $180 million and pegged its current global haul at around $47 million. To reach theatrical profitability, the movie needed to gross an estimated $350 million worldwide. With ticket sales stalling well below that threshold, both Variety and TheWrap report that the project is on track to lose Warner Bros. roughly $250 million in its theatrical run, positioning it among the costliest studio misfires in Hollywood history.

A Sharply Divided Critical and Audience Reception

While Goodman characterized the pre-release environment as fatal to the film's momentum, the broader critical consensus was sharply polarized rather than universally negative. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Digger holds a 53% critics score based on roughly 340 reviews, alongside a noticeably warmer 77% audience score. That 53% rating marks the lowest Tomatometer score of Iñárritu's directing career, dipping below the 60% mark previously held by his 2022 feature Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.

The divide among reviewers was evident across major publications. Writing for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey awarded the movie two stars, remarking that it "arrives, in all its American grotesquerie, with all the force of a light breeze." Similarly, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw dismissed the project as an "exasperatingly shallow, laborious, self-congratulatory satire."

Conversely, several prominent writers championed the film's eccentricities. The Telegraph's Robbie Collin awarded Digger four stars and dubbed it the "most bonkers film of the year." Los Angeles Times critic Amy Nicholson wrote that while she did not "entirely love this strange comedy, I'm giddy that it's lurched into existence." In an early reaction for The Independent, Jacob Stolworthy also praised the picture as a "big swing that grabbed my attention in a big way," adding that it "exists entirely on its own merits, and almost dares the audience to dislike it."

Hollywood Rallies Around an Original Studio Swing

As box-office analysts tracked the film's financial shortfalls over the past month, a vocal contingent of Hollywood actors, musicians, and filmmakers stepped forward to defend Cruise and Iñárritu. Veteran performer Mandy Patinkin hailed the movie as an "instant classic" and "one of the greatest pieces of film I have ever seen in my entire life," while musician Neil Young wrote on his website that Digger is "the best film I have ever seen." Actors Anne Hathaway and Jane Fonda also publicly praised the feature.

The debate over Digger has quickly evolved into a wider industry conversation regarding the viability of big-budget, original studio filmmaking in a risk-averse theatrical marketplace. Filmmaker and actor Ben Affleck addressed the backlash during his own appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast last month, criticizing the media's fixation on the movie's financial losses.

"Everybody wants to celebrate this bomb as if it's the most exciting thing to happen. And you think like, it's a pretty ambitious, interesting movie made by interesting people who have talent," Affleck said. "Everybody wants to count the money, what it lost or whatever. To me, I just think, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you're going to get? A bunch of shitty homogenized movies. You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing."

For moviegoers and industry observers alike, the trajectory of Digger highlights the precarious position of high-concept satire carrying blockbuster price tags. While the theatrical ledger points to a historic financial write-down for Warner Bros., the stark contrast between its 53% critics rating, its 77% audience score, and fierce backing from industry peers suggests the film may ultimately follow the exact path Goodman predicted—finding a second life with viewers long after the box-office headlines fade.

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