From October 1st "Digger", the new film by Alejandro G. Iñárritu starring Tom Cruise, will be in theaters. The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, Emma D'Arcy and Sofia Wilde. Here are all the curiosities relating to this new film
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Digger, an eco-satire with a noir edge that sees Tom Cruise at the center of the scene, will be released on October 1st in Italian cinemas (from October 2nd in US cinemas). The film, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Nicolás Giacobone, is a co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico. "This is a story of power, of greed, of responsibility and of irresponsibility," Cruise said in an ABC News interview about his character. "He's trying to control things that you simply can't control. That's not going to happen," he added.
Cast and plot
In the cast of Digger Tom Cruise plays the role of Digger Rockwell, a rich oil magnate and man considered "the most powerful in the world": the character has now graying hair, a receding hairline, a heavy build and a marked accent from the southern United States. Riz Ahmed plays Ganesh, scientist and assistant to the President, while John Goodman plays Compson, dictatorial president of the United States. Sandra Hüller as Emma Rockwell, Digger's half-sister and business partner. Michael Stuhlbarg plays the vice president, Jesse Plemons is Kenny, Robert John Burke plays Fitzgerald, Emma D'Arcy plays Lina and Burn Gorman is Amos. The cast also includes Sofia Wilde, Pip Torrens, Mercedes Hernández as Digger's housekeeper, Danny Kirrane as Sandy Clarkson and Corey Johnson as Jacobs.
At the center of the story is Digger Rockwell, whose company could be at the origin of an ecological catastrophe with an estimated cost of one trillion dollars. Faced with the consequences of the disaster he helped cause, the tycoon embarks on a race against time with the aim of convincing the world that he can save it before the situation becomes irreversible. In parallel with the frantic mission to avert the catastrophe, Digger spends part of his time taking care of a sickly cat.
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The production
Digger's project began to take shape in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's mind after The Revenant (2015), when the director had already outlined the protagonist and his way of dealing with reality, but did not yet have a finished script or a defined narrative structure. For years he then searched for the most suitable way to transform that idea into a film. A first decisive step dates back to 2019, when Iñárritu began discussing the project with Tom Cruise, who was busy filming Top Gun: Maverick and already interested in the director's work after seeing Amores perros. The choice of the actor came after a discussion with Iñárritu, while the relationship with the studio was part of the strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Even on the production front, the path was gradual, with the project remaining in development for several years before entering the operational phase. After the parenthesis dedicated to Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022), Iñárritu returned to Digger and in February 2024 the film was officially announced, with Cruise chosen as the protagonist as part of the director's new collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures.
Filming and post-production
Principal photography began in the United Kingdom on 7 November 2024 at Pinewood Studios, with Emmanuel Lubezki in photography, and concluded on 3 May 2025 after approximately six months of filming. The film was made on 35 mm film, through the VistaVision system and with Leitz Cine ELSIE lenses. During the works the provisional title Judy was used, later replaced with Digger. After filming concluded, Iñárritu confirmed that the work would have a comedy tone. In December 2025 the definitive title was accompanied by a 50-second teaser to the tune of O Green World by Gorillaz. That same month, Matt Belloni reported that Warner Bros. had greenlit a production budget of $125 million. Industrial Light & Magic and Legacy Effects handled the visual effects, while in July 2026 Cosmo Sheldrake was announced as the author of the soundtrack, his debut in composing for a feature film. Processing ended on May 3, 2025, marking the closure of a phase that lasted six months.
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Some curiosities about the film
Among the most curious aspects of Digger is first and foremost the long-standing relationship between Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu: the actor had seen Amores perros when it was released, in 2000, and said he had waited for about 25 years for the opportunity to work with the director. When Iñárritu proposed the film to him, rather than simply sending him the script, he preferred to meet him personally and dedicated several days to reading the script with him. Cruise also explained that Digger Rockwell was not born from the representation of a person who really existed, but is a character built through a long work of interpretation. To transform into the oil tycoon, the actor had to undergo a complex make-up process: initially the preparation took around six hours, but thanks to meticulous work with the crew the time needed was progressively reduced to less than an hour. In addition to the prosthetics, Cruise also wore special padding to modify his physique and various costume elements that made being on set physically demanding. Among the most complex tests faced by the actor was a monologue lasting approximately 10 minutes, recorded in a single take. The promotional material also fueled a curious theory on social media according to which Digger could even be a musical, a hypothesis which the production subsequently ruled out. The film also marks an unusual phase in Cruise's recent career, far from the major action franchises that have characterized his recent years. On a technical level, Iñárritu chose to return to 35 mm film and the VistaVision system, while the path that brought Emma D'Arcy to the cast was particularly secretive: the actress said she faced an extremely secret audition, with little time to prepare, improvisation tests and a subsequent meeting with the director.
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Tom Cruise's Oscar chase
The film could represent an important step in Tom Cruise's career and offer him a new opportunity in the Oscar race. The actor, who is 64 years old, has received four nominations so far: three as an actor, for Born on the Fourth of July (1989); Jerry Maguire (1996) and Magnolia (1999), and one as producer of Top Gun: Maverick (2022), without ever winning a statuette. In 2025 he received an honorary Oscar from the Academy, presented to him by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who on that occasion underlined how that recognition might not be the last for the actor. Digger thus represents almost a "last chance" for Cruise, after years spent mainly between large action productions and franchises such as Mission: Impossible. According to what Cruise himself said, the experience on set was different from any other he had previously faced, while Iñárritu described working on the actor as something new for him too. The director also spoke of Digger as the result of a journey that lasted forty years, ideally linking the film to the star's entire career.
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