Story perspectives

Tom Cruise Transforms into Oil Baron Digger

7/15/2026

Summary

Tom Cruise Transforms

Tom Cruise explained his transformation into oil baron Digger Rockwell at a Warner Bros. press event in Burbank, California.
He said the look required heavy old-age makeup, false teeth, and specific boot and short colors.
Cruise described the role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Digger,” co-starring Emma D’Arcy, as his first non-franchise character since 2017, using his “absorbing” method of body, musicality and dance, citing Les Grossman.

Summary

Iñárritu Crafts Digger

Alejandro G. Iñárritu spent ten years shaping Digger, begun after The Revenant (2015).
He filmed it on VistaVision with a 1954 camera and custom wide-angle vintage Leica lenses.
Iñárritu presented the screenplay to Tom Cruise by reading it aloud over several days.
He says every frame, color, costume and prop was deliberately chosen.
Digger is his first English-language film since The Revenant, mixing comedy with tragedy.

Summary

Tom Cruise TikToks

Tom Cruise joined TikTok and scaled a giant shovel on the Warner Bros. lot during the trailer premiere.
The ensemble includes John Goodman as U.S. President, with Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.
Critics note the movie uses bad lighting and unflattering angles to make powerful figures appear hideous.
TIME magazine printed a fictional “Titan of the Year” cover featuring Cruise’s character Digger Rockwell, extending the satire.

History

Historical Context

Paramount Pictures invented VistaVision in 1954, orienting 35 mm film horizontally and using eight perforations per frame to double resolution for epics like White Christmas. After fading by the early 1960s, the format resurfaced in 2024 with films such as The Brutalist. Iñárritu’s 2026 satire Digger revives the 1954 Leica lens and VistaVision, starring Tom Cruise and Emma D’Arcy.

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Tom Cruise Transforms

Tom Cruise explained his transformation into oil baron Digger Rockwell at a Warner Bros. press event in Burbank, California.
He said the look required heavy old-age makeup, false teeth, and specific boot and short colors.
Cruise described the role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Digger,” co-starring Emma D’Arcy, as his first non-franchise character since 2017, using his “absorbing” method of body, musicality and dance, citing Les Grossman.

1 / 4