Hollywood's fall calendar fills with high-stakes original films chasing both crowds and awards heat. Tom Cruise just fueled that fire himself.
The star posted a striking new poster for Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger on Tuesday. It shows him as eccentric oil baron Digger Rockwell in a vivid red suit, shovel in hand, striding across bold color blocks. The tagline reads "DIGG. OR DIE."
Cast photos line the bottom for Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons. Cruise simply wrote "DIGGER. Final Trailer. Tomorrow."
Digger marks Iñárritu's first English-language feature since The Revenant. The satirical black comedy follows the world's most powerful man racing to prove he is humanity's savior after unleashing disaster. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures shoot the entire film in VistaVision. It opens exclusively in theaters and IMAX on October 2.
Cruise has called the role a career peak. "I have never had something that could challenge me in this way, and neither has Alejandro," he said at a trailer event. Iñárritu spent a decade developing the idea after The Revenant. He approached Cruise about seven years ago. The director later read the full script aloud to him over several days.
"The transformation he went through was astonishing," Iñárritu said in a video message. Cruise told him it took 40 years to become the character. Hüller, who has seen an early cut, called it remarkable. "It impresses me beyond anything I’ve ever seen," she said at Cannes while legally barred from more details.
Plemons described the script as one of the strangest, funniest and most tragic he has read, with modern Dr. Strangelove echoes. Goodman plays the U.S. president. Production wrapped in the U.K. after starting at Pinewood Studios. Emmanuel Lubezki handled cinematography. The $125 million film aims for pure theatrical impact.
Cruise's post landed just weeks out. Fans immediately zeroed in on the unrecognizable look and Oscar chatter. The final trailer drops Wednesday. It should sharpen the pitch for what both men call their boldest work yet.
Audiences will decide soon enough in IMAX.
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