Ready to meet “Digger”?
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s self-described “comedy of catastrophic proportions” arrives exclusively in theaters on Oct. 2. Warner Bros. revealed a new trailer Monday, giving audiences a first look at Tom Cruise’s transformation into the film’s titular lead: an elderly titan of the oil industry.
Warner Bros.’ marketing for “Digger” has obscured Cruise’s character until now, with a teaser trailer and character posters obstructing the actor’s face. Cruise is unrecognizable in the role, sporting a honeyed Southern drawl (which really makes the salty dialogue sing) and a copious amount of prosthetic make-up.
From what we can gather, John Goodman is playing the President of the United States, Riz Ahmed seems to be an alarmed scientist and Sandra Hüller is Digger’s… love interest? Maybe? Who knows. The whole thing seems to be operating on a gonzo frequency inviting audiences into its peculiar vibrations.
Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde (who you can see for a split second in the trailer), Emma D’Arcy, Robert John Burke and Burn Gorman also star.
At a presentation of the trailer on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Cruise spoke passionately about seeing Iñárritu’s 2000 debut feature “Amores Perros” and about meeting the filmmaker years later to discuss working together.
“I go to every one of his films. ‘What’s he doing next? What’s he doing next?’ And he’s just a beautiful human being and a very gifted artist. Everything that he’s doing, it’s a discovery. And it’s surprising,” Cruise told the crowd on the lot. “He came to me with this project, ‘Digger,’ which he’d been working on for a couple of years by then. And he came to me — I guess now seven years ago, something like that — as he was developing, working on it. And then we just worked on it together.”
“I have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever,” Cruise continued. “And when you see this film, it’s totally original.”
Cruise shared more about his experience disappearing into the role of Digger Rockwell.
“You really have to understand the tools. It’s not one size fits all. You have to find the communication, the lenses, the color of the makeup. The level of detail of making a film like this is… [The] color of the cowboy boots. What are my shorts like?” Cruise explained. “The sets, the color of the sets. They’re beautiful on every single level, and it’s all very… You look at the taste of this man. It’s very special.”
“Digger” marks Cruise’s first feature since last year’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and his first since receiving an Honorary Academy Award (also last year). Earlier this year, both “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” returned to theaters, accompanied by a terrific sizzle reel of Cruise’s on-screen career (that doubled as a “Digger” teaser).
“Digger” is Iñárritu’s first film since helming 2022’s “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” for Netflix.
“Digger” arrives in theaters on Oct. 2.
