Tom Cruise's latest movie, Digger, has had a rough start at the box office. Still, the film's disappointing opening has become unlikely ammunition for Melania Trump's team. The movie's $8 million domestic debut put it among the biggest box-office disappointments of Cruise's career, despite the star power attached to it.

Now, Melania Trump's senior advisor, Marc Beckman, has drawn an unusual comparison between the film and the First Lady's own documentary, Melania.

Marc Beckman took to social media to highlight the per-theater performance of Melania compared with Digger, arguing that the documentary performed better despite playing in significantly fewer theaters.

“On a per-theater basis, MELANIA outperformed Tom Cruise’s DIGGER by approximately 67%, despite opening in roughly half as many theaters,” Beckman wrote. He also pointed out that Digger played in 1,543 more theaters than Melania.

The numbers behind the comparison show why Beckman made the point. Melania opened in 1,778 North American theaters and made around $7.16 million during its opening weekend, while Digger debuted in 3,321 theaters and brought in approximately $8 million domestically. That gave the documentary a substantially higher per-theater average despite its much smaller theatrical footprint.

There is, however, some important context to the comparison. Melania itself was not exactly a theatrical triumph. The documentary ultimately grossed around $16.7 million worldwide, despite Amazon MGM paying a substantial amount to acquire its rights and spending heavily on promotion. 

Meanwhile, Digger is dealing with a far more expensive proposition. The Tom Cruise-led film reportedly cost between $160 million and $180 million to produce, with another significant marketing spend. Its $20 million worldwide opening—$8 million domestically and $12 million internationally—has put the film on track for enormous theatrical losses.

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But while Melania’s team is celebrating that narrow box-office win, Tom Cruise has a very different view of what Digger’s disappointing opening actually means.

Despite the disappointing numbers, Tom Cruise himself is not treating Digger as a lost cause. Rather than judging a movie entirely by its opening weekend, the actor has argued that some films need time to find their audiences.

Speaking about the film's prospects On Film With Kevin McCarthy podcast, Cruise pointed to movies such as Rain Man and Born on the Fourth of July, noting that films once had much longer theatrical lives. He hopes Digger can similarly find an audience over time and become something that lasts beyond its initial box-office performance.

"They transcend… you just hope you can make a film that can last," he said.

That optimism may be tested by Digger's current numbers. The film has opened to a C+ CinemaScore, while its enormous production and marketing costs mean it needs a major turnaround to avoid becoming one of the year's biggest theatrical losses.

For now, though, Digger has found itself at the center of a very different kind of Hollywood comparison—with Melania Trump's advisor making sure everyone knows that, at least on a per-theater basis, Melania came out ahead.

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Which is better: Melania or Digger? Let us know in the comments.