The first trailer for Tom Cruise's long-awaited film Digger has been released, showcasing a dramatic physical transformation that has fans and critics buzzing. Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the movie is being positioned as Cruise's best shot at winning an Academy Award for acting. The 64-year-old star plays Digger Rockwell, an eccentric, cat-loving billionaire with a pot belly, messy gray hair, and a Southern drawl.
Plot and Key Scenes
The trailer opens with Cruise's character musing, "Everything changes, you know? One day, you're a cat – or a king. Next day, you're just ashes in a box," as he dresses with his beer belly hanging over his boxer shorts. He then coos over a cat, imploring it to "take a little taste for Daddy." The plot follows Digger, described as "the most powerful man in the world," who must "race to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything." A key scene shows Digger dismissing a five-foot crack on a glacier in Greenland, asking an employee, "What, do you want me to shut down a billion-dollar platform over something that's 10 times the size of my d**k?"
Cast and Comparisons
The cast includes John Goodman as the US President, Riz Ahmed as presidential advisor Ganesh, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Sophie Wilde. Fans quickly compared the film to Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove. One YouTube commenter wrote, "Reminds me of Dr Strangelove. I'm all in," while another on Instagram said, "Dr Strangelove for our times, in Iñárritu we trust." Cruise's physical transformation has been noted as his most extreme since his role as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder (2008).
Director's Remarks and Oscar Buzz
Iñárritu shared a video message at a special trailer launch event, saying, "The transformation he went through was astonishing. 'Alejandro, it took me 40 years to become this character,' he told me once." Cruise echoed this, stating, "I have never had something that could challenge me in this way." Cruise is a three-time acting Oscar nominee for Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), and Magnolia (2000), plus a producing nod for Top Gun: Maverick. Fans are already calling for an Oscar, with one exclaiming, "PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK. I'VE SEEN ENOUGH. GIVE THIS MAN AN OSCAR."
Release Date
Digger is set for release in cinemas on October 2, 2026.
