Digger Trailer: Tom Cruise Saves The World From Himself

Warner Bros. Pictures released a teaser in June for Tom Cruise's new movie, "Digger," that basically marketed it as "Tom Cruise: The Movie." The clip was a retrospective look at Cruise's best movies that ended with a few brief snippets of "Digger," directed by Alejandro Iñárritu. Now, Warner Bros. has dropped a proper trailer giving us a better look at Cruise and the story as a whole, and we don't mind saying it — Cruise may finally win an Oscar. 

To be fair, he's received an honorary Oscar, but it's high time that he takes home a best actor prize. But even if he misses out once again, "Digger" looks like a hoot — a  pitch-dark comedy in the vein of a modern-day "Dr. Strangelove." Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, the most powerful man in the world, who's responsible for some kind of global catastrophe and must contend with the fact that the damage could be in the trillions of dollars (as opposed to, you know, the number of human lives).

But as Digger himself so eloquently puts it, there's a difference between knowing the facts and knowing the story. Whatever this disaster is, Digger seems determined to market himself as humanity's savior. After spending years making some of the most rewatchable action movies of all time, "Digger" shows us a whole new side to Cruise — namely, a side that dotes on a very sickly cat who's sure to be the standout star of the whole thing. 

Looper had the chance to attend a special pre-launch event for the "Digger" trailer, accompanied by a Q&A with Tom Cruise himself. Cruise discussed how he's wanted to work with Alejandro Iñárritu since his 2000 film "Amores Perros," and that the collaboration on "Digger" began seven years ago. While Iñárritu wasn't there in person, he did provide a video message explaining that the genesis of "Digger" wasn't the story, it was this eclectic character at its center. And Cruise has gone all in, giving Digger a very thick, Southern accent, a very different physique, and a penchant for flying off the handle.

The trailer looks absolutely beautiful; the movie was filmed in VistaVision, a high-resolution format developed in 1954 that's seen a resurgence lately in films like last year's best picture winner, "One Battle After Another." Could VistaVision go two-for-two at next year's ceremony with "Digger" taking home the big prize? That remains to be seen, but it's clear you won't want to sleep on this.

Cruise stars in the upcoming film alongside Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Emma D'Arcy, Michael Stuhlbarg, and John Goodman, who plays the ailing, near-death President of the United States. For now, we just want to see more scenes with Cruise and that sick cat. Cruise refused to confirm whether or not the cat was an animatronic, but it's glorious nonetheless. 

"Digger," which looks like it'll easily be one of the best movies of 2026, comes out in theaters and in IMAX on October 2.