In Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Digger,” Tom Cruise plays a character by the name of Digger Rockwell. Last month, we got a teaser; not much was revealed — we just had Tom Cruise pulling out the moves while holding a shovel and sporting what appeared to be a prosthetic nose.
As I’ve written previously, the only thing we know about “Digger” is that the story reportedly follows a “powerful global figure (Cruise) who races to convince the world he’s its savior—before the catastrophic consequences of his own actions unleash widespread destruction.” Now many have speculated that Cruise’s character might be inspired by Elon Musk, and judging by these latest revelations, I’m starting to believe that “Digger” will definitely have elements in it that parallel today’s world.
The latest comes from one of the film’s stars, Jesse Plemons, who tells Variety that “Digger” was “one of the strangest, funniest, most tragic scripts I’ve read.” More curiously, he goes on to reveal that “there’s a kind of modern-day ‘Dr. Strangelove’ thing” going on in the film, and that it then shapeshifts into something entirely different.
Now, if a film is described as a modern-day ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ it would usually mean that it’s a political satire — one that uses dark, absurd humor to expose political institutions and/or figures. Kubrick’s film dealt with catastrophic stakes via irony and farce. No coincidence: one of the few breadcrumbs Iñárritu has given us about “Digger” is his description of it being a “comedy of catastrophic proportions.”
Plemons stops short of revealing more but goes on to praise Cruise’s performance.
Getting to see Tom just go for it — not in a death-defying action way but fully showing what an incredible actor he is — that was thrilling.
Cruise leads an ensemble of talented actors, including Plemons, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, and Emma D’Arcy.
The film hits theaters October 2, 2026, via Warner Bros. Pictures. Odds are it’ll either premiere at Cannes or Venice, but most are leaning toward the latter, as it occurs a month before the film’s release date.