Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Gets a Rocky Rotten Tomatoes Debut, and Critics Are Nowhere Near Agreement

Tom Cruise has built a career on dangling from cliffs, skyscrapers and planes for audiences. His latest gamble is a very different kind of risk, a satire from Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. That is why the Rotten Tomatoes debut of Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ was always going to be closely watched.

The film follows Cruise as Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil tycoon who accidentally unleashes an ecological disaster and then tries to save the world. The R-rated movie also stars Riz Ahmed and John Goodman, and it was shot entirely in VistaVision. It reportedly carries a $125 million budget.

On September 29, ‘Digger’ debuted with 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s Tom Cruise’s lowest-rated film in a decade. The score was based on 17 reviews at the time, and the site’s Popcornmeter for audiences was still pending. The review embargo had lifted at 12 p.m. ET that day.

The number is not final. As more reviews came in, the Tomatometer rose to 50% based on 50 reviews. One report on the split said it was perfectly divided, with 60 reviews tallied, between critics who dig it and those who want it buried.

The praise is enthusiastic where it exists. The Los Angeles Times’ Amy Nicholson gave the film a fresh score, describing Digger Rockwell as Cruise’s riskiest role in eons. Earlier social reactions went further, with 1 critic calling it his best performance since ‘Magnolia’.

The negative reviews are just as pointed. The Wrap’s William Bibianni compared the film to a weak ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch with a huge budget and delusions of grandeur. Variety’s Clayton Davis respected the swing and praised the performances, but said the dots do not all connect and wished the film leaned harder into its absurdity.

The split was visible from the start. The film premiered in London on September 22, and the social media reactions that followed were sharply divided. Some critics called it one of the boldest movies of the year, while others described it as messy and self-indulgent.

IndieWire’s Anne Thompson called it a brave and gorgeous art film. She said it will not score with mainstream audiences but will play best for the Academy, especially the crafts and actors. Several other early viewers also expected an awards run, especially for Cruise’s performance and the production design.

Even the prediction markets saw it coming. Through August and mid-September, traders treated a fresh score in the mid-70s as a coin flip. After the press screenings, expectations slid toward the low 50s.

A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released.

In theaters October 2. pic.twitter.com/kTEeFZI14E

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026

The mixed reviews land on a film with a lot riding on it. With marketing on top of the reported $125 million budget, ‘Digger’ reportedly needs upwards of $300 million worldwide to break even. Early tracking puts its domestic opening in the high teens, and another report says it is tracking to make under $20 million.

Warner Bros. releases the film in North America on October 2, in theaters and IMAX, and internationally from September 30. Cruise is 64, has been nominated 4 times without a competitive win, and took home an Honorary Academy Award last year. It is also his first film since signing a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, and the studio has positioned it as a major fall Oscar play alongside ‘Dune: Part Three’.

The debut score may still shift as more critics weigh in, but the conversation is already set. Whether ‘Digger’ turns out to be a misfire or a misunderstood swing may come down to the audience response.

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