Plot twist: Tom Cruise’s Digger might secretly be a musical
Digger’s final trailer has some convinced Tom Cruise’s film is hiding a cheeky genre twist — and you’ll want to know which one.
Right, here we go: Hollywood’s got a bit of an odd relationship with musicals these days. Some studios will shove them front and centre, jazz hands and all. Others, well, they’ll try to bury the dance numbers so deep you’ll need a spade. So, when Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film Digger drops a final trailer and the internet starts buzzing about whether Tom Cruise is starring in a secret musical, it's not entirely surprising. But is that what's actually happening?
Digger is scheduled to hit UK cinemas on 2nd October 2026.
The Musical Mystery
Here's what set it off: the latest trailer for Digger lands, and a few eagle-eyed types on social media spot a couple of shots with people dancing or background extras with mouths wide open, as if they’re mid-chorus. Cue rampant speculation that Warner Bros. and Iñárritu are hiding the film’s true genre. Honestly, the 'evidence' is pretty flimsy—blink and you’ll miss it. But to be fair, studios have tried to sneak musicals past unsuspecting audiences before, usually to avoid scaring off punters who think singing belongs on stage, not screen.
Anyway, someone thought it was time to clear things up, so Variety asked around. Two sources who’ve worked on the film confirmed point blank: Digger is not a musical. The notion apparently left them 'amused'—so, no cover-up, just over-imaginative internet detectives. Save your tickets for Wonka 2, if that’s what you’re after.
What We Actually Know
Now for the film itself. Tom Cruise is front and centre, playing the delightfully named Digger Rockwell, billed as the most powerful man in the world—and on a deadline to clean up a world-ending mess of his own making. It’s a proper high-concept affair, if the logline’s to be believed.
- Sandra Hüller (Project Hail Mary)
- Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)
- John Goodman (The Connors)
- Riz Ahmed (The Phoenician Scheme)
- Michael Stuhlbarg (After the Hunt)
- Sophie Wilde (Babygirl)
- Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon)
- Robert John Burke (Robocop 3)
- Burn Gorman (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
- Pip Torrens (Preacher)
The other fun bit? Jesse Plemons has compared the film to a modern-day 'Dr. Strangelove', saying it’s a one-of-a-kind blend of funny, tragic, and downright odd—his words, but very much the vibe. He also made a point that Cruise isn’t just wheeling out the old action-man shtick; this time, it’s about raw acting chops.
Sandra Hüller’s courtesy of THR’s Scott Feinberg, and she’s legally barred from saying much—classic. But she did manage to sneak in that seeing even a rough cut 'impresses me beyond anything I’ve ever seen', and she expects something remarkable when we actually get the finished thing.