The most striking thing about the first full trailer for Digger is that you have to look for Tom Cruise in it. There are no zipwires, no fighter jets and no motorcycle stunts — just Cruise disappearing under a prosthetic belly, a comb-over and a thick Southern accent as Digger Rockwell, an aging energy mogul who realises he has to save the planet from a disaster he set in motion. For an actor whose brand is his own unmediated physicality, hiding him this completely is a genuine swing.
What is Digger actually about?
Digger casts Cruise as a wealthy billionaire who initially could not care less that his actions have started melting the polar icecaps. Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the Mexican filmmaker behind Birdman and The Revenant, the film frames that meltdown as trillions of dollars in damage unless catastrophe is averted, and a news report glimpsed on a TV screen even shows London under water.
Rockwell is eventually talked into helping by a similarly aging president, played by John Goodman, via a plan that seems to involve flying up to the North Pole and blowing some stuff up. So a few familiar Cruise beats survive the transformation, even if the man himself is hidden. The tagline — “Digg. Or Die” — and the film’s billing as a comedy of catastrophic proportions signal that Iñárritu is after something stranger than a straight disaster movie.
The supporting cast reinforces that ambition. Alongside Cruise and Goodman, Iñárritu has assembled Rogue One’s Riz Ahmed, Project Hail Mary’s Sandra Hüller, Breaking Bad’s Jesse Plemons and Dopesick’s Michael Stuhlbarg. As Variety and Deadline reported from an earlier CinemaCon preview, Cruise plays the mogul as eccentric and cat-obsessed. UAE outlet Khaleej Times called him “almost unrecognisable” in the first trailer, which is the whole point.
When can you watch Digger in UAE cinemas?
Digger is scheduled to open in cinemas on 2 October, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and playing in IMAX. Its international rollout begins 30 September 2026, with 2 October 2026 listed as the main release date. That leaves roughly three months to go from the trailer’s arrival, and barring another trailer between now and then, this is the shape the film will keep.
Cruise’s turn toward heavy character work makes Digger one of the more intriguing entries on a crowded 2026 calendar — it sits comfortably among the year’s most anticipated releases. Seeing him vanish into a role rather than sell a stunt is reason enough to circle the date.
Leave a Reply