Digger, the Tom Cruise Oscar vehicle, lands in cinemas on October 2, so let’s unpack what all the fuss is about.
What is ‘Digger’ about?
Per the film’s official website: “Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu returns with his original film Digger, starring Cruise in the title role.
“The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.”
That’s right, Cruise’s Digger Rockwell is a billionaire oil tycoon with strong ties to the U.S. Presidency and a desire to cover his tracks, ‘control the narrative ’, and avert a crisis of his own making.
Sound all too familiar?
Well, Digger is a very deliberately poised comic satire by Iñárritu, an Oscar juggernaut of a director courtesy of past works such as The Revenant and Birdman.
How big is the ensemble?
The acting ensemble is an all-star cast featuring countless big names.
Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons and Emma D’Arcy join Cruise in Digger, and the talent is also bursting behind the camera.
Writer/director Iñárritu is joined by Oscar-winning writers Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman.
Iñárritu also produces alongside Oscar nominee Mary Parent, Cruise, and executive producer Joshua Grode.
Oscar-winning director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki is in the fold, as are editors Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirrone; Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West; Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi; and Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler; along with Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner and production designer Richard Johnson, Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro, and composer Cosmo Sheldrake.
With all of these Oscar winners and nominees involved, is Cruise hoping to join them?
Yes, ‘Digger’ is a Tom Cruise Oscar vehicle
Like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, Cruise is hoping Iñárritu and his peers are the ticket to a long-awaited acting Oscar.
Cruise’s Oscar campaign began late last year, when he was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 16th Annual Governors Awards.
Iñárritu presented the Hollywood veteran with the prize, saying, “This may be his first Oscar, but from what I have seen and experienced, it won’t be the last.”
That’s Cruise’s hope, and he’s now on the major campaign trail, giving interviews, sit-down talks and more to push himself over the line.
One such interview was with Entertainment Tonight, where Cruise waxed lyrical on what making Digger meant to him.
“The movie and also the production is just layer upon layer of ability, of dreams, and fulfilling those dreams, and reaching for a high level of communication to the world,” Cruise said.
“The framing, what’s in the frame, the actors, the dialogue, from hair and makeup, wardrobe, the performances, the story overall, those things will always live with me.”
Will Cruise’s performance live on until March 2027?
Only time will tell.
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