Tom Cruise aiming for an Oscar with new film Digger – and it’s about time

For more than a decade, Tom Cruise has existed almost outside the traditional awards conversation.

Not because the work hasn’t mattered, but because it’s belonged to a different cinematic lane altogether: gravity-defying spectacle, global box office domination, and the preservation of old-school movie stardom in an era increasingly hostile to it.

With Digger, that lane finally appears to be shifting.

The first teaser for Cruise’s upcoming film is brief, cryptic, and quietly weird.

Shot largely in silhouette, it shows the 63-year-old actor dancing with a shovel, dressed in an oversized T-shirt, basketball shorts, and cowboy boots. His hair appears longer and thinner, possibly hidden beneath a wig, rendering him almost unrecognisable.

This is not Ethan Hunt sprinting against the clock, nor Maverick defying death at Mach speed. This is something stranger, riskier, and far more interior.

Set against a pastel, clouded sunset, Cruise’s lone figure drifts between a house on the water and a dock overlooking an expansive ocean. In one arresting moment, he stands precariously on a fence separating pier from deep water.

There are no explosions, no supporting characters, and very little context.

Marketed as ‘a comedy of catastrophic proportions,’ Digger stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a character described in a Warner Bros. logline as ‘the most powerful man in the world’ who embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour.

It’s an audacious premise that signals a return to the kind of auteur-driven collaboration Cruise once built his reputation on.

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the four-time Oscar winner behind Birdman and The Revenant, Digger marks the filmmaker’s first English-language film in over a decade.

Iñárritu has described the project as ‘scary and funny and beautiful,’ openly acknowledging that comedy is not what audiences expect from either him or Cruise, which is precisely why the pairing is so compelling.

It also recalls an earlier phase of Cruise’s career, when he regularly placed himself in the hands of filmmakers with distinct, sometimes challenging visions.

In the 1990s, he worked with Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia), Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July) and Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire), performances that earned him multiple Oscar nominations and solidified him as a serious dramatic actor, not just a star.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, that version of Cruise has largely been eclipsed by the blockbuster titan.

It’s been a role he has played brilliantly, but one that has inevitably narrowed the scope of how his work is discussed.

Films like Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible franchise are feats of cinema craft, yet they leave little room for the kind of character-driven ambiguity awards bodies tend to reward.

The ensemble cast — including Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed, Emma D’Arcy and Michael Stuhlbarg — only strengthens the sense that this is an actor’s film rather than a vehicle.

Co-written by Iñárritu alongside collaborators from Birdman and produced by the director and Cruise together, the project suggests a major swing from Cruise.

Scheduled for theatrical release on October 2, 2026, Digger is also Cruise’s first film since signing a new development and production deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, reuniting him with the studio for the first time since Edge of Tomorrow.

Whether or not Oscar recognition ultimately follows, the significance of Digger represents a star at the height of his powers choosing risk over repetition.

For an actor who has already conquered the box office, the most daring move left may be reminding audiences — and the Academy — just how good he can be when he lets go.

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