What's Inside?
- Tom Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell in a dark comedy directed by Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu.
- 'Digger' releases Oct. 2, 2026, via Warner Bros., featuring an acclaimed ensemble cast and IMAX rollout.
- The first poster and teaser reveal a surreal tone described as “a comedy of catastrophic proportions.”
Tom Cruise is entering unfamiliar territory, and that sense of risk sits at the heart of Digger. First announced in February 2024, the Warner Bros. Pictures release has steadily built intrigue without giving much away. Slated for an Oct. 2, 2026 theatrical rollout, including IMAX, the film marks Cruise’s first collaboration with Alejandro González Iñárritu. Together, they are promising something bold, unsettling, and darkly funny, described plainly as “a comedy of catastrophic proportions.”
Digger Cast, Plot, Poster, and Teaser Details
At the center of Digger is Tom Cruise himself, starring as Digger Rockwell. The role already feels like a deliberate pivot from the controlled heroism audiences associate with him. The ensemble surrounding Cruise adds further weight and unpredictability. The cast includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, Riz Ahmed, Emma D’Arcy, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, and Pip Torrens.
Check out the Digger teaser:
Plot specifics remain closely guarded, though the outlines are provocative. Warner Bros. describes Rockwell as “the most powerful man in the world” who “embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.” The filmmaker himself has leaned into the film’s tone, calling it “a brutal, wild comedy of catastrophic proportions. It’s insane. It’s scary and funny and beautiful,” (via THR).
“It’s insane. It’s scary and funny and beautiful. I know comedy is not what people expect from me, or Tom, and making this film was terrifying for me. But I don’t like to repeat myself, and every film should scare you a little. I felt Birdman was a comedy, a dark comedy, and this one was challenging like that. And Tom makes me laugh every single day. He has this total commitment, this total madness.”
Visual marketing for Digger arrived on Dec. 18, when Warner Bros. released the first official poster. The image is deceptively simple. “Tom Cruise is Digger” appears above the tagline, “A Comedy of Catastrophic Proportions.” The title letters form the silhouette of a person holding a shovel and wearing cowboy boots, set against a striking orange background.
That same day, a 49-second teaser debuted, offering atmosphere rather than clarity. It opens on Rockwell’s shovel and cowboy boots before Cruise appears, dancing awkwardly along a beach railing. The movements feel strange, almost defiant, set to imagery that resists easy interpretation. The teaser reveals no plot turns. Tom Cruise took to X to share the teaser with a 3-word reaction, “Let’s f***ing go!”
Who’s Directing Digger and What’s Happening Behind the Scenes
Alejandro González Iñárritu directs and co-wrote Digger alongside Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, collaborators from his earlier successes. For Iñárritu, this marks his first English-language feature since The Revenant. His return arrives with familiar creative partners, including cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, whose work on Birdman, Gravity, and Children of Men changed modern cinematic landscape.
Lubezki shot Digger on 35mm film using VistaVision. Filming took place primarily at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom between November 2024 and May 2025. Production briefly paused in March after John Goodman suffered a minor hip injury, though he returned within days.
Cruise, Iñárritu, and Mary Parent serve as producers. Cruise’s commitment to the project became especially visible during the 2025 Governors Awards, where Iñárritu honored him with an Honorary Oscar. At the podium, Cruise summed up his creative philosophy: “Making films is not what I do; it is who I am.”
