Ben Affleck warns against celebrating Tom Cruise's Digger box office failure, saying it could stop Hollywood from taking risks.

Ben Affleck compares the reaction to Tom Cruise's film Digger to "high school bullying," insisting that some people's eagerness to celebrate its box office failure could deter risk-taking in Hollywood.

Ben Affleck has compared the reaction to Tom Cruise's Digger to a "high school bully" and insists the eagerness of some to celebrate its box office failure could be preventing Hollywood from taking risks.

According to reports, Digger will lose $250 million by the end of its theatrical release, and Warner Bros. predicts that number will reach around $40 million worldwide. Its opening weekend brought in just $8 million domestically and $12 million internationally. It has now grossed $35.3 million worldwide after two weekends in theaters. Variety reported that it may no longer be one of Hollywood's biggest flops of all time.

Directed by back-to-back Best Director Oscar winner Alejandro Jay Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant) and legendary actor Tom Cruise, it has divided critics and audiences alike. There have been attempts to use mixed reactions to its advantage and Hollywood stars have championed it, but it no longer seems to have the legs to improve on its box office debut.

Batman star Ben Affleck defended ambitious filmmaking and risk-taking on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, warning that the backlash to Digger could lead to Hollywood retreating to safer bets like sequels and adaptations of recognizable IP.

Affleck argued: "It's a little bit like high school bullying, with people who haven't even seen the movie. You see it happening now, frankly, with Digger. Everyone wants to celebrate this bombshell as if it's the most exciting thing ever. And you think, this is a very ambitious and interesting film made by interesting people who have talent.

"Everybody wants to count the money, what they lost or whatever. For me, I just think, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you get? A series of homogeneous films. You can't do anything interesting without taking a big swing. And that means sometimes it looks bad."

Digger has a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer and a 74% positive user rating on its Popcornmeter. IGN's Digger review returned a 6/10. We said: "The humor may not change your thinking about global warming, but there are great performances and more than a few laughs."

Digger tackled the negative reviews in its latest ad campaign, but couldn't move the needle. Tom Cruise himself has not yet issued an official statement in response.

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Wesley is the managing editor of IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at @wesley_yinpoole or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.