# Tom Cruise’s First Original Movie in 9 Years Is Officially the Most Divisive Movie of His Career

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/tom-cruises-first-original-movie-in-9-years-is-officially-the-most-divisive-movie-of-his-career/
- Published: 2026-09-22T21:40:05+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-23T03:40:00+00:00
- Original publisher: Collider
- Original article: https://collider.com/tom-cruise-digger-first-reactions/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- *Digger* has divided critics before its 2 October release.
- Tom Cruise’s performance has attracted both award buzz and criticism.
- The film is an ambitious, unconventional Iñárritu project.

## Summary

Tom Cruise’s new film *Digger* has prompted sharply divided early reactions, with critics variously calling it audacious and ambitious or chaotic and unenjoyable. The response marks a notable change from Cruise’s recent run of broadly popular blockbusters, as the film is his first original movie in nearly a decade.

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, *Digger* stars Cruise as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, who tries to rescue humanity from a catastrophe he caused. The film also features Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller, was shot entirely in VistaVision, and reunites Iñárritu with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki; it is due for release on 2 October. Reactions praise the cast, production design and bold ideas, but disagree over whether the film’s unusual tone and major twists succeed.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.