IGN told readers to wait for Digger on HBO Max. Guillermo del Toro called that ‘entirely petty’
Guillermo del Toro has come to the defence of Tom Cruise’s Digger, labelling a recent review “entirely petty” after an odd swipe at the cinema experience.
It’s not every day you see Guillermo del Toro rolling up his sleeves on social media for a film he didn’t even direct, but here we are. Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest, has Tom Cruise front and centre, a proper heavyweight cast, and—surprise—some critics are already less than impressed. One review in particular, from IGN, has irked del Toro to the point where he’s publicly leapt to Cruise’s defence, all over a rather blunt remark about why punters shouldn’t bother catching this one in the cinema. Let's get into the fuss, shall we?
Digger' lands in UK cinemas on 2 October 2026.
Guillermo v. IGN
For context, IGN’s review didn’t just pan the film, it actually told readers there’s no reason to go to the cinema: “The theater experience won’t change your mind, and the laughs that are there still will be when it hits HBO Max.” They also called it “far from a must-watch” and said viewers might as well wait for streaming. Honestly, a bit of a wallop to anyone who actually spent money on a cinema ticket.
Guillermo del Toro, never shy with his opinions, decided that was crossing the line—especially as Tom Cruise has practically made it his personal mission to keep cinemas buzzing. Over on X, del Toro called IGN out for their “entirely petty headline” and doubled down on why he thinks Digger is something you need to see on the big screen:
In a recent X post, del Toro said, “Love it or not. And, yes, I do. The film delivers in scale, ambition, and reach at a theatrical screen level. Daring, bold, and cinematically complex. Decidedly a Theatrical experience.”
He wasn’t having any talk of skipping the cinema, and fair play to him—he’s been vocal in the past about the magic of that shared, in-person movie experience.
Tom Cruise: Still Mr. Cinematic?
Tom Cruise himself has famously said he has nothing against cable or Netflix, but there’s something irreplaceable about big-screen cinema. “It is all of us coming together in a room and sharing an experience,” he once told GQ. It’s no secret: Cruise will hop on your spaceship, run on your train, climb your tallest building—so long as you’re watching him in an actual theatre. So, to see reviews suggesting Digger is basically “wait for telly” is clearly not sitting well with some filmmakers.
The Mixed Bag of Reviews
Now, as for Digger itself—it’s hardly setting the critics’ scoreboard on fire. Currently, it's stuck at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, which for Iñárritu and Cruise feels unusually low-wattage. The common consensus? Cruise is doing his best, but everyone else (and possibly the script itself) is just trying to keep up.
- Jonathan Sim at ComingSoon says Cruise “swings for the fences,” but the movie doesn’t quite keep pace.
- TIMES’s Stephanie Zacharek reckons Iñárritu and Cruise are flogging “the genius of the movie they’ve made,” calling it “reverse-engineered awards bait” that’s more talk than substance.
- AV Club’s Monica Castillo finds it has “razzle-dazzle,” but not much emotional heft. Cruise does the heavy lifting, but there are “loose threads” everywhere else.
It’s not just Cruise, either. The rest of the cast includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Robert John Burke, and Emma D’Arcy—a lineup you’d think could save almost anything.
But if you’re into Cruise at his most bombastic and aren’t bothered about plot holes, you’ll probably get your money’s worth. If not, it looks like you’ll have plenty of company sitting this one out until it lands on streaming. Either way, Digger goes wide in cinemas from 2 October.