Ben Affleck warns that piling on Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ will breed ‘homogenized’ Hollywood

Actor-director Ben Affleck is warning that the public glee over Tom Cruise’s box office flop “Digger” could push Hollywood toward safer, more uniform movies.

Appearing on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz, Mr. Affleck compared the reaction to high school bullying and said many people are celebrating a film that is, in his view, an ambitious project made by talented people, TheWrap reported.

The comments came during a career-spanning conversation in which he recalled making his 2007 directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone,” without casting himself in the lead, at a time when he felt audiences had soured on him as a movie star.

Mr. Affleck said too many people are fixated on how much the movie lost. Punishing risky films has a predictable result, he argued: “Guess what you’re going to get? A bunch of s—tty homogenized movies.” Doing something interesting, he added, requires a big swing, and that means sometimes failing publicly.

“Digger,” directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, opened Oct. 2 and has struggled. It fell 60% in its second weekend and had grossed an estimated $14.4 million domestically and $35.3 million worldwide through Sunday, Fortune reported. Variety, citing sources, has reported that the film is tracking to lose roughly $245 million in its theatrical run, based on a projected worldwide finish of about $50 million.

Production costs climbed to between $160 million and $180 million after filming ran over schedule, Fortune reported, and the studio spent roughly $100 million more on marketing. Variety’s sources put the break-even point at $350 million worldwide, though a Warner Bros. spokesperson said it is closer to $300 million.

The film was Warner Bros.’ last release before Paramount Skydance closed its acquisition of the studio on Oct. 6, according to Fortune.

Critics were sharply divided on the film, and Warner Bros. responded with an ad urging audiences to “decide for yourself,” Fortune reported.

Mr. Affleck is not the only celebrity to come to its defense. Anne Hathaway gave the film 10 out of 10 on Letterboxd, calling it “smart and trippy and aggressive and funny and ambitious.” Mandy Patinkin, Jane Fonda and Guillermo del Toro also rallied behind it, with Mr. Patinkin calling it an “instant classic.”

Musician Neil Young went further, writing on his website that “Digger” is “the best film I have ever seen,” Exclaim reported.