For much of the last decade, Tom Cruise has operated almost exclusively in blockbuster territory. Whether dangling from aircraft in the Mission: Impossible franchise or returning to the cockpit for Top Gun: Maverick, the actor has cemented himself as cinema’s ultimate stunt-driven movie star.
But a newly released career retrospective from Warner Bros. serves as a timely reminder that Cruise’s filmography extends far beyond action spectacle.
The montage revisits iconic moments from films including Risky Business, Days of Thunder, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, and Rock of Ages, highlighting the versatility that helped make Cruise one of Hollywood’s most enduring leading men. More intriguingly, however, it also offers audiences their best look yet at his upcoming collaboration with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Hidden amongst the career-spanning footage is a brief glimpse of Digger, the filmmaker’s highly anticipated black comedy that sees Cruise taking on one of the most unusual roles of his career.
Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell, a man described as the most powerful person in the world. According to the film’s official logline, Rockwell embarks on a desperate mission to convince humanity that he is its saviour before a catastrophe of his own making destroys everything around him.
The footage itself is fleeting, but it hints at a project that is far removed from Cruise’s recent action-heavy output. Strange imagery, chaotic energy, and an unmistakably satirical tone suggest that Digger could be one of the actor’s boldest creative swings in years.
The project marks the first collaboration between Cruise and Iñárritu, whose acclaimed filmography includes Birdman, The Revenant, Babel, and Amores Perros. Given the director’s fascination with flawed protagonists, ego, and public perception, the premise feels perfectly suited to his sensibilities.
Cruise will be joined by an impressive ensemble that includes Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Sophie Wilde, Emma D’Arcy, Michael Stuhlbarg, John Goodman, Burn Gorman, and Robert John Burke.
Filmed across the United Kingdom over six months between late 2024 and 2025, the production was shot on 35mm film using VistaVision, further underscoring the ambitious scale of the project.
Exactly what kind of chaos Digger Rockwell unleashes remains to be seen, but the newly revealed footage suggests audiences should prepare for something very different from the Tom Cruise they’ve grown accustomed to. After years spent saving the world through sheer adrenaline and impossible stunts, watching him unravel inside a darkly comedic disaster story may prove to be one of the most exciting turns of his career.
Digger is scheduled to be released in Australian theatres on October 1st, 2026.
