Digger trailer shows Tom Cruise as an eccentric oil baron
Warner Bros. has released the official trailer for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s satirical black comedy starring Tom Cruise.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
2 min read
Warner Bros. has released the official trailer for Digger, giving the public its first substantial look at Tom Cruise in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s forthcoming satirical black comedy. The film matters for more than Cruise’s altered appearance: it is Iñárritu’s first English-language movie since The Revenant in 2015.
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, described by Ars Technica as an eccentric billionaire oil baron. In the trailer, the actor appears with wispy hair and a potbelly, a notable shift from the action-hero image that has defined much of his recent work.
Warner Bros. previewed footage from Digger at CinemaCon in April. The Hollywood Reporter said industry attendees regarded that footage as one of the event’s highlights.
Until now, general audiences had seen little from the film. Warner Bros. previously released a title announcement and a May teaser that, according to Ars Technica, was largely a retrospective of Cruise’s career with about 30 seconds of Digger footage at the end.
What the film is about
The official logline says: “The most powerful man in the world races to prove he's humanity's savior before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything.” Ars Technica reported that the disaster shown in the trailer appears ecological, involving a rapidly melting iceberg and nuclear waste.
Iñárritu, a four-time Oscar-winning filmmaker, is known for Birdman and The Revenant. Digger places him back in English-language filmmaking after more than a decade.
Ars Technica described the trailer as carrying the feel of Dr. Strangelove updated for the 21st century. That comparison points to the film’s satirical black-comedy tone and its focus on power, disaster and public self-justification.
The role also continues a pattern in which Cruise has drawn attention for playing against his usual screen persona. Ars Technica cited his parts as a rage-fueled motivational speaker in Magnolia and an outsized movie mogul in Tropic Thunder as earlier examples of that approach.
Warner Bros. has not disclosed additional plot details in the material described by Ars Technica. The trailer now sets up Digger as a political and ecological satire centered on a powerful man trying to cast himself as a savior after triggering a crisis.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.