Tom Cruise looks completely unrecognizable in the first trailer for Digger, a new comedy-drama directed by Oscar-winner Alejandro González Iñárritu. Sporting a grey combover, a pot belly, and a strong southern accent, Cruise plays a character vastly different from his typical action-hero roles. This marks his most dramatic physical transformation since his role in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.
In the film, which is scheduled for a worldwide release in early October, Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell, an oil baron who is described as "the most powerful man in the world." When Rockwell’s company accidentally triggers a major ecological disaster that could lead to nuclear war, he embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he is humanity's savior before everything is destroyed.
The movie features an impressive supporting cast, including John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, and Sophie Wilde. Speaking at a promotional event in Los Angeles, Cruise shared that he has wanted to work with Iñárritu since watching the director's gritty 2000 drama Amores Perros. Their collaboration finally began about seven years ago when Iñárritu spent several days reading the script aloud to Cruise.
Iñárritu, who won the best director Oscar for his 2015 epic The Revenant, revealed that the idea for Digger had been a persistent obsession for ten years. He described the project as absurd and dangerous, but also comedic, noting that tragedy is often the source of great comedy. Interestingly, the film was shot using VistaVision, a high-definition analog process from the 1950s that has recently seen a revival in modern filmmaking.