Digger is an upcoming satirical black comedy film directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who co-wrote the film with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Nicolás Giacobone, from a story by Iñárritu and Berman. It is a co-production of the United States, United Kingdom, and Mexico. The film stars Tom Cruise as the titular character alongside Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons.
Digger is scheduled to be released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on October 2, 2026.
Contents
Premise
The most powerful man in the world races to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything.
Cast
Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a wealthy oil tycoon
Riz Ahmed as Ganesh, a scientist and the President's assistant
John Goodman as President Compson, the dictatorial President of the United States
Sandra Hüller as Emma Rockwell, Digger's sister
Michael Stuhlbarg as the Vice President
Jesse Plemons
Robert John Burke
Emma D'Arcy
Burn Gorman
Sophie Wilde
Pip Torrens
Mercedes Hernández as Digger's housekeeper
Danny Kirrane as Sandy Clarkson
Production
Development
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu first conceived the idea of Digger following the completion of his film The Revenant (2015): "I had an idea. Not a script, not a film, just a relentless, recurring obsession that has endured through all these years. I knew who this character was. I knew how he spoke, how he survived, how he seduced reality into agreeing with him. But it took me 10 years to do this film, because I wasn’t looking for a story. I was looking for the right way of saying it." In 2019, he began discussing the project with Tom Cruise when he was filming Top Gun: Maverick; Cruise was a long-time fan, having seen Iñárritu's directorial debut Amores perros (2000) in its initial release. After turning his attention to his passion project, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022), Iñárritu returned to Digger, with the project being announced and Cruise officially being cast in the lead role in February 2024 after attending a meeting with Iñárritu, following his strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Legendary Pictures was announced to produce the film. In August, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons and Sophie Wilde would be added to the cast, with Riz Ahmed in negotiations to also join. In early 2025, Emma D'Arcy, Robert John Burke and Burn Gorman were revealed to have joined the cast.
Filming
Principal photography began in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2024, taking place at Pinewood Studios, with Emmanuel Lubezki serving as the cinematographer and concluded in late April 2025. The film was shot on 35 mm film using VistaVision equipped with Leitz Cine ELSIE lenses. Filming was halted for two days in March 2025 when Goodman endured a minor hip injury for which he was hospitalized. Production wrapped on May 3, 2025, after six months of filming under the working title Judy. Later that month, Iñárritu confirmed in an interview that the film would be a comedy.
Post-production
In December 2025, the title was officially revealed as Digger alongside a 50-second teaser with the song "O Green World" by Gorillaz. Also in December, journalist Matt Belloni reported that the film had been greenlit with a $125 million production budget, as a part of the Warner Bros. Pictures chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy's strategy of auteur driven productions, following the critical successes of Sinners and One Battle After Another in 2025. Industrial Light & Magic and Legacy Effects are providing the visual effects. English musician Cosmo Sheldrake is composing the score in his feature film composing debut.
Release
The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 2, 2026, in IMAX.
Marketing
On April 14, 2026, Cruise and Iñárritu presented new footage during the Warner Bros. Pictures panel at CinemaCon 2026. The Hollywood Reporter called the footage among the best shown at that year's CinemaCon. Thirty seconds of footage from the film, set to Dire Straits's "Money for Nothing", were shown after a retrospective of Cruise's film career over the years before screenings of the re-releases of Cruise's films Top Gun (1986) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) starting on May 13; the trailer was eventually released online a month later on June 23, followed by three teaser posters, with a full trailer, set to Talking Heads's "Burning Down the House", released on July 13.
