At CinemaCon this past April, Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu left theater owners with their jaws on the floor at their over-the-top satire “Digger.” Now, Warner Bros. is offering the world a first look at Cruise as corrupt oil tycoon Digger Rockwell in what might be his most over-the-top performance yet.
While best known as a death-defying action star who does his own “Mission: Impossible” stunts, Cruise has not been afraid to take on wild roles like the foul-mouthed studio exec Les Grossman in “Tropic Thunder.” Both roles and many others were included in a 40-year retrospective of Cruise’s career that concluded with a surprise first look at “Digger.”
In the sneak peek, which comes after 3 minutes of retrospective footage of some of Cruise’s most beloved performances, we see the actor as Digger, an elderly and unsightly billionaire jumping around, with mere glimpses of Cruise’s transformation.
All will be revealed when the actual trailer drops in July, but the story finds Digger reckoning with a global natural disaster that he caused.
Because of Inarritu’s history at the Academy Awards with a Best Picture win and back-to-back Best Director Oscars, “Digger” has been penciled as a major potential awards contender and one that could earn Cruise his fourth acting Oscar nomination and his first since “Magnolia” in 2000.
“Digger” also continues Warner Bros.’ recent trend of taking big swings on films driven by top actors and directors rather than IP recognition. That risk-taking paid off last year as Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” became a box office success and won multiple Oscars while Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” while not as successful commercially, won Best Picture. On the flipside, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” bombed at the box office this past spring amidst tepid reviews, though the filmmaker has another film lined up at Warner with “Creation Lake.”
Shot entirely in VistaVision, “Digger” also stars Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu directs from a screenplay by Iñárritu and Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman. The film is produced by Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Cruise and Michael Sharp, and executive produced by Joshua Grode.
