Tom Cruise goes under heavy prosthetics for Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger as a corrupt oil tycoon in eco-satire

An unrecognisable leading man

Tom Cruise appears in heavy prosthetic makeup in the first full Digger trailer, bearing a grey comb-over, a pronounced potbelly, and a thick Southern accent. The look is a radical departure from the action-hero physique he has maintained for decades. "I have never had something that could challenge me in this way," Cruise said at a Warner Bros. event in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "When you see this film, it's totally original." Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who won Oscars for Birdman and The Revenant, described the transformation as "astonishing." Iñárritu added that "the film needed Tom" and that the two had wanted to work together since the beginning of the century. Cruise's last such physical overhaul was in 2008's Tropic Thunder.

I have never had something that could challenge me in this way, and neither had Alejandro when we went in, ever. When you see this film, it's totally original.

The plot: an oil baron's self-inflicted crisis

The official logline states that "the most powerful man in the world races to prove he's humanity's savior before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything." That disaster appears to involve a rapidly melting iceberg, nuclear waste, and the threat of nuclear war, all possibly triggered by Digger Rockwell's own oil company. John Goodman plays a frail US president who, in the trailer, orders an airstrike on the iceberg while tethered to an oxygen tube and then falls asleep. "Fuck this iceberg, let's dance," the president mutters after being jostled awake. The satirical tone draws direct comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

Fuck this iceberg — let's dance.

Behind the camera and the ensemble

Digger marks Iñárritu's first English-language feature since 2015's The Revenant. He began developing the idea shortly after that film, calling it "a relentless recurring obsession." The director narrated an early script to Cruise over several days about seven years ago. The cast includes Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, Emma D'Arcy, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, Pip Torrens, and Mercedes Hernandez as Digger's housekeeper. TechRadar noted that Hüller, a Best Actress Oscar nominee for Anatomy of a Fall, may finally become a leading Hollywood name through this project.

From Cinemacon to the full trailer

Warner Bros. first teased the film at April's Cinemacon, where insiders called it a highlight. A short teaser in May combined a Cruise career retrospective with roughly 30 seconds of Digger footage. The new trailer, released Monday, gave fans a complete look. Social media reaction was immediate: "Tom Cruise looks completely unrecognizable," one user posted on X. Another wrote, "I actually didn't recognise him." Some predicted an Oscar nod for the 64-year-old actor, noting that Cruise hasn't been nominated since 2000's Magnolia.

The rollout

Digger is set for a worldwide theatrical release on October 2, 2026. (Italian distributor Warner Bros. has listed October 1 as the local date.) The film's black-comic take on climate collapse and corporate recklessness positions it as a potential awards contender in the next season.