Tom Cruise's Digger Divides First Audiences

Tom Cruise as a blundering oil tycoon has split his first audience right down the middle.

Digger, the dark comedy directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and starring Cruise, held its first press screenings in New York and Los Angeles, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 23 September 2026. Early notices disagree. The paper described them as mixed-to-negative, ranging from "brave" to "baffling" to "misfire".

Cruise plays an oblivious oilman whose drilling in Greenland dislodges an ice shelf large enough to threaten global disaster. Around him are Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons. The story has drawn comparisons to Dr. Strangelove, the Cold War satire, and reportedly turns on a major reveal late in the film.

Variety called the early response split and divisive in its own round-up on 22 September. Most early posts praised Cruise's performance and the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, while opinions divided on Iñárritu's direction, according to Entertainment Weekly. That pattern, strong marks for acting and camera with argument over tone, is common for a big swing satire shown first to critics and writers.

The project has been a long build. Cruise said he had been working with Iñárritu for seven years, in an interview with Variety. Iñárritu, the director of Birdman and The Revenant, read the script aloud to Cruise over several days before the actor joined, Variety reported on 11 September.

Cruise looks almost unrecognisable in the role. The first trailer, unveiled in July, showed him under heavy makeup and prosthetics. The prosthetic application initially took six hours in the chair. Iñárritu later called the transformation astonishing, Deadline reported on 9 September.

The business behind it is large for an original comedy. Warner Bros. and Legendary backed the film with an estimated US$130 million investment. The title Digger and a fall release were set in December 2025, Variety reported at the time. It was presented as a dark comedy, meaning a funny story built around bleak subject matter, at CinemaCon in April, according to Deadline. It is not a musical, despite speculation that followed early footage.

Co-star Hüller had signalled strong support in May, saying Cruise's work impressed her beyond anything she had ever seen, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

For fans, this means a very different Cruise. No fighter jets. A padded, prosthetic character part in a satire about money, power and climate.