{"id":2040781,"date":"2026-07-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040781"},"modified":"2026-07-13T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:00:00","slug":"tom-cruise-says-alejandro-g-inarritus-totally-original-digger-is-unlike-any-film-hes-ever-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040781","title":{"rendered":"Tom Cruise Says Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s ‘Totally Original’ Digger Is Unlike Any Film He\u2019s Ever Made"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was among the members of the press invited to a trailer launch event last week for director Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s next film, Digger<\/a>, starring Tom Cruise. Billed as \u201ca comedy of catastrophic proportions,\u201d the trailer \u2013 now online \u2013 shows a nearly unrecognizable Cruise as tycoon Digger Rockwell, whose oil drilling operation sparks a global disaster. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Both I\u00f1\u00e1rritu (in a pre-recorded intro) and Cruise, who was present for a moderated Q&A, said the film is unlike anything either artist had ever done before. \u201cThe film needed Tom,\u201d I\u00f1\u00e1rritu said. \u201cWe [have] wanted to work together since the beginning of the century. I admired him as an actor for years, and that wasn’t a surprise for me. The surprise was discovering that the human being behind the actor was just as extraordinary as the performances I will see throughout his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu added, \u201cThe transformation he went through was astonishing. \u2018Alejandro, it took me 40 years to become this character,\u2019 he told me once. And I think we both know what it means to carry an entire career into a single moment like this. We both knew that throughout our journeys, we had never done anything even close to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filmmaker \u2013 who won back-to-back Oscars for directing Birdman<\/a> and The Revenant<\/a> \u2013 said, \u201cMaking this film demanded everything I had. I have never prepared a project with this level of precision. Every frame, every lens, every color, every costume, every face, every context, every object, every layer and symbol, nothing here is an accident. We shot on VistaVision, because cinema deserves scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s message concluded, Cruise took the stage and said he had wanted to work with the filmmaker since he saw his 2000 psychological drama Amores Perros<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019d never heard of him before. And he and I didn’t meet for many, many years,\u201d Cruise explained. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruise was awed by \u201cthe level of detail, the skill, the layers of making this film,\u201d adding, \u201cHe’s never made something like this before, nor have I.\u201d Cruise remarked, \u201cI have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever. And when you see this film, it’s totally original.\u201d <\/p>\n

Digger is a dark comedy \u2013 the trailer has Dr. Strangelove vibes \u2013 but, as Cruise pointed out, \u201cthere’s not one rhythm or comedy-fits-all\u201d approach to realizing the material. For Cruise, finding the character of Digger Rockwell meant being in sync with the tone of the film I\u00f1\u00e1rritu wanted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start to feel the musicality of the character, it has a rhythm, and it’s not a rhythm like anything else. So the behavior of a character, the movement of a character, these are things that as we’re looking at the makeup side, as you’re developing, you got to go, is this our tone? Is it drama? Is it comedy? Is it too much? You’re dialing it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The marketing around the film has so far leaned into Digger being the pinnacle of Cruise\u2019s 45-year screen career<\/a>, with the 64-year-old actor acknowledging the importance of I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s movie to him after a lifetime spent learning about filmmaking from his directors and their teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m so grateful. It’s kind of amazing to be here at this age. I think back to that kid on the set looking into different departments, and those people that were gracious enough to be able to share that knowledge, and I was like, \u2018I know I don’t understand it now. One day I will understand it more,\u2019 and I did. I feel fortunate. To be there off camera and see Paul Newman acting as Scorsese is directing him. I recognize how fortunate I was, just absorbing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Digger, Cruise mused, \u201cThere’s nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, \u2018Let’s do this. And I trust you and whatever we’re going to do, I know this is going to be a hell of an experience and let’s come together and let’s do it. Let’s all do it.\u2019” <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. will release Digger in theaters on October 2, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>\n

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I was among the members of the press invited to a trailer launch event last week for director Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s next film, Digger<\/a>, starring Tom Cruise. Billed as \u201ca comedy of catastrophic proportions,\u201d the trailer \u2013 now online \u2013 shows a nearly unrecognizable Cruise as tycoon Digger Rockwell, whose oil drilling operation sparks a global disaster. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Both I\u00f1\u00e1rritu (in a pre-recorded intro) and Cruise, who was present for a moderated Q&A, said the film is unlike anything either artist had ever done before. \u201cThe film needed Tom,\u201d I\u00f1\u00e1rritu said. \u201cWe [have] wanted to work together since the beginning of the century. I admired him as an actor for years, and that wasn’t a surprise for me. The surprise was discovering that the human being behind the actor was just as extraordinary as the performances I will see throughout his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu added, \u201cThe transformation he went through was astonishing. \u2018Alejandro, it took me 40 years to become this character,\u2019 he told me once. And I think we both know what it means to carry an entire career into a single moment like this. We both knew that throughout our journeys, we had never done anything even close to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filmmaker \u2013 who won back-to-back Oscars for directing Birdman<\/a> and The Revenant<\/a> \u2013 said, \u201cMaking this film demanded everything I had. I have never prepared a project with this level of precision. Every frame, every lens, every color, every costume, every face, every context, every object, every layer and symbol, nothing here is an accident. We shot on VistaVision, because cinema deserves scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s message concluded, Cruise took the stage and said he had wanted to work with the filmmaker since he saw his 2000 psychological drama Amores Perros<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019d never heard of him before. And he and I didn’t meet for many, many years,\u201d Cruise explained. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruise was awed by \u201cthe level of detail, the skill, the layers of making this film,\u201d adding, \u201cHe’s never made something like this before, nor have I.\u201d Cruise remarked, \u201cI have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever. And when you see this film, it’s totally original.\u201d <\/p>\n

Digger is a dark comedy \u2013 the trailer has Dr. Strangelove vibes \u2013 but, as Cruise pointed out, \u201cthere’s not one rhythm or comedy-fits-all\u201d approach to realizing the material. For Cruise, finding the character of Digger Rockwell meant being in sync with the tone of the film I\u00f1\u00e1rritu wanted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start to feel the musicality of the character, it has a rhythm, and it’s not a rhythm like anything else. So the behavior of a character, the movement of a character, these are things that as we’re looking at the makeup side, as you’re developing, you got to go, is this our tone? Is it drama? Is it comedy? Is it too much? You’re dialing it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The marketing around the film has so far leaned into Digger being the pinnacle of Cruise\u2019s 45-year screen career<\/a>, with the 64-year-old actor acknowledging the importance of I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s movie to him after a lifetime spent learning about filmmaking from his directors and their teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m so grateful. It’s kind of amazing to be here at this age. I think back to that kid on the set looking into different departments, and those people that were gracious enough to be able to share that knowledge, and I was like, \u2018I know I don’t understand it now. One day I will understand it more,\u2019 and I did. I feel fortunate. To be there off camera and see Paul Newman acting as Scorsese is directing him. I recognize how fortunate I was, just absorbing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Digger, Cruise mused, \u201cThere’s nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, \u2018Let’s do this. And I trust you and whatever we’re going to do, I know this is going to be a hell of an experience and let’s come together and let’s do it. Let’s all do it.\u2019” <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. will release Digger in theaters on October 2, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was among the members of the press invited to a trailer launch event last week for director Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s next film, Digger, starring Tom Cruise. Billed as \u201ca comedy of catastrophic proportions,\u201d the trailer \u2013 now online \u2013 shows a nearly unrecognizable Cruise as tycoon Digger Rockwell, whose oil drilling operation sparks a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,243],"class_list":["post-2040781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-ign-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2040781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2040781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}