“The film needed Tom,” Iñárritu said via video at a Warner Bros. screening last week. “We wanted to work together since the beginning of the century. I admired him as an actor for years, and that wasn’t a surprise for me. The surprise was discovering that the human being behind the actor was just as extraordinary as the performances I will see throughout his career. The transformation he went through was astonishing.”

If the film turns out to be as good as this trailer, Cruise (and Iñárritu) might be looking at another Oscar nomination. John Goodman co-stars as a geriatric US president, with Mercedes Hernandez playing Digger’s housekeeper. The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, Emma D’Arcy, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, and Pip Torrens in as-yet-undisclosed roles.

Digger hits theaters on October 2, 2026.