Tom Cruise as 'Most Powerful Man': Why His 2026 Film Digger Is a Must-See

The first poster and teaser for the Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment film was revealed with a tagline describing the movie as “a comedy of catastrophic proportions.”

Cruise took to Instagram, where he shared the poster and wrote: “Introducing…DIGGER. A comedy of catastrophic proportions from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Only in theaters October 2026.”

The actor stars as Digger Rockwell. While the exact plot is still under wraps, Warner Bros. provided a logline describing Cruise’s character as “the most powerful man in the world” who “embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything,” reports variety.com.

The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, Riz Ahmed and Emma D’Arcy. “Digger” is Cruise’s first film since signing a deal to develop and produce theatrical films with Warner Bros. Discovery in January. His last project with the studio was “Edge of Tomorrow” a decade ago.

“Digger,” which shot in the U.K. for six months, marks Iñárritu’s first English-language film since “The Revenant.” The film will be produced and directed by Inarritu, with a script he co-wrote in 2023 with “Birdman” co-writers Nicolas Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris, along with Sabina Berman. “Digger” is produced by Cruise and Iñárritu.

The timing of the release suggests “Digger” could premiere at Venice, where Inarritu had presented his last film, “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” which earned an Oscar nomination for best cinematography in 2023; “Birdman,” which won best picture in 2015; and “21 Grams.”

The filmmaker also has a strong bond with Cannes, having presented there “Amores Perros” which launched his international career 25 years ago, as well as “Babel” and “Biutiful,” reports variety.com.

Inarritu returned to the Croisette with “Flesh and Sand” (“Carne y Arena”), a virtual-reality short giving viewers the perspective of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with a coyote. It went on to earn a special achievement Oscar in 2018.

- IANS