Tom Cruise Is Pure Unrecognizable Chaos In Unhinged Digger Trailer

Tom Cruise is pure chaos in the new Digger trailer.

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the upcoming satirical dark comedy film features Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a powerful oil tycoon who attempts to save the world from the global catastrophe he unleashed. The star-studded cast also includes Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Emma D'Arcy, Sophie Wilde, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Now, Warner Bros. has released a new Digger trailer, which was first shown at a trailer launch event where ScreenRant's Ash Crossan was in attendance. The footage opens with an intro clip from Iñárritu, who describes Digger Rockwell as “the most charismatic catastrophe you have ever seen." However, "like all the most dangerous people, he makes you want to agree with him.”

Set to Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House," the trailer kicks off with Digger petting his cat while being informed that the animal has "between two weeks and five minutes to live." In the montage that follows, there are glimpses of Goodman as the President of the United States, military planes flying over ice caps, Cruise dancing with a shovel, and Goodman's character declaring “Digger got us into this mess, and Digger’s gonna dig us out again,” and a voice asking, "Is that all the bad f***ing news?" Check out the trailer below:

The trailer provides the best look yet at Digger, with Cruise being barely recognizable in the character's voice or physical depiction. Along with the movie's chaotic and darkly comedic energy, it was emphasized during the event that the footage was shot on VistaVision, which gives the film a tall, striking field of depth.

While many details about the movie remain under wraps, Cruise's eccentric transformation, and how different it is from his previous roles, has already generated plenty of excitement for the film. Many early 2027 Oscars predictions already have Digger as a top Best Picture contender, along with Cruise winning his first Academy Award for a specific performance. He won an honorary Oscar this year and has previously been nominated for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia.

This is the actor's first time working with Iñárritu, who is a four-time Academy Award winner. He won Best Director for The Revenant and Birdman, along with Best Picture and Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Birdman. The Revenant also received a Best Picture nomination, as did Babel.

In the introduction clip, Iñárritu clarified the timeline of when he first got the idea for the film and why it took so many years after the initial premise came to him: "It was just after The Revenant, when I had an idea, not script, not a film, just a relentless recurring obsession, that has endured through all these wild 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."

Despite massive franchise movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Avengers: Doomsday, and Dune: Part Three still to come this year, the new Digger trailer further cements the mysterious standalone film as one of the most anticipated of the year.

Digger releases in theaters on October 2.

Release Date October 2, 2026

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writers Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris