Mission: Impossible was meant to end with The Final Reckoning. After Digger's reviews, fans are betting on a ninth
After Bad Digger updates, Tom Cruise fans now reckon another entry in a very familiar franchise is a dead cert.
Right, so it seems the Tom Cruise rumour mill is already in overdrive, this time with talk of another Mission: Impossible film. Why now? Blame it on the early reactions to Cruise’s new Oscar-bait effort Digger. Let’s just say the ‘prestige’ pivot hasn't exactly had critics falling over themselves.
Digger currently holds a 53% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, having launched at just 41%.
From Ethan Hunt To Digger Rockwell
Cruise, best known for strapping himself to aircraft and riding motorbikes off cliffs, decided to make a swerve into something a lot less death-defying. In Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, he’s playing Digger Rockwell — an ageing billionaire, not an action hero, which is already enough to throw some of the faithful.
The film itself has been positioned aggressively for awards season, complete with all the usual Oscar-campaign trimmings from Warner Bros. and Cruise's lot. Unfortunately, the critics haven't exactly rolled out the red carpet. It debuted with a paltry 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and, at the moment, has only clawed up to 53%. For context, ComingSoon.net's Jonathan Sim gave it a straight-down-the-middle 5 out of 10. Hardly a glowing start for a supposed prestige project.
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Time For Ethan Hunt To Save The Day Again?
Now, here’s where it gets a bit amusing. As soon as those mediocre reviews landed, fans online wasted no time speculating on Cruise's next move. The gist? ‘Well, guess it’s back to Mission: Impossible then.’
- @hunters174 on X (which is still Twitter to me) deadpanned, "Another Mission Impossible."
- @hidden_cinema0 upped the ante: "Yeah, we’re getting 10 more Mission Impossible movies, aren’t we?"
- @steelthistweet said what everyone else was thinking: "We’re getting Mission Impossible 9 now, hell yeah!"
Really, it’s not the most outrageous theory. With Digger looking wobbly, Cruise probably will want to get back to Ethan Hunt’s stunts and reliable box office returns as soon as possible. It just works, doesn’t it?
What’s Digger Actually About?
If you’re wondering why everyone seems so sceptical, here’s the official synopsis for Digger: ‘The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.’ It's a satirical dark comedy, which probably means a lot more monologuing, a fair bit less running across roofs.
Despite the studio spirits, unless the public reception is a lot stronger when Digger opens (2 October 2026), it’s looking like Cruise’s awards push may struggle to get off the ground.
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