Tom Cruise’s big-budget Digger is headed for a crushing opening weekend at the North American box office, with estimates now around $8 million from 3,300 theatres.

The Alejandro G. Inarritu dark comedy grossed $3.3 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, far below the $12-15 million Warner Bros. had projected, WDC News 6 reported. The film carries a $125 million production budget, with reports putting the final cost as high as $180 million.

The opening would be Cruise’s lowest since 2007’s Lions for Lambs, which debuted with $6.7 million. Audiences gave the film a C+ CinemaScore, one of the worst grades of Cruise’s career, and critics are split at 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Anne Hathaway’s Verity is expected to win the weekend with about $33.6 million, while Brad Pitt’s Heart of the Beast is tracking toward $11 million in its second weekend.

Cruise defended the film on social media, thanking the cast and crew. The studio hopes awards buzz could give the ambitious project some legs.