Hours after Digger’s reviews landed, Tom Cruise was at an Oscar event saying ‘people want real things’
Tom Cruise isn’t budging on Digger, shrugging off a bruising 51% Rotten Tomatoes score — and he’s now spelled out exactly why he’s sticking by it.
Right, if you thought Tom Cruise was going to slink away quietly after Digger set critics at each other’s throats, you don’t know Cruise. The film’s split audiences right down the middle — sitting at a wobbly 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is, frankly, no man's land in terms of consensus. But Cruise? Absolutely unfazed.
Standing His Ground Publicly
Just hours after the first reviews started rolling in — and some of them are properly scathing, let’s be honest — Cruise showed up at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. This wasn’t just a casual pop-in; he was front and centre at an FYC event (that’s ‘For Your Consideration’, for those not constantly marinating in awards season lingo), with director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and the entire cast at his side. Studio’s clearly still gunning for nominations, despite the polarised press.
The man didn’t just pose, either. He made his position very clear in front of the assembled hopefuls and industry types. Here’s Cruise, during that awards-do, explaining what he thinks the film stands for:
“This film is handmade. It's that kind of investment. I always wanted to be an actor, and I wanted to have this opportunity. It's a real privilege to be able to make this film. I want you to know that I'm out here for you all. People want real things and they want real experiences. … What we put our attention on, we give life. Just keep creating and let's enjoy doing it.”
So, critics calling it a misfire or a “shallow satire”? Not so much a concern for Cruise, who flat-out said he was chuffed to work with this bunch regardless of what the reviewers write.
Read more: Critics are tipping an Oscar for Digger — just not for Tom Cruise
The Cast, The Laughs, The Release Date
It wasn’t all earnestness. He let slip that he could barely keep a straight face sharing scenes with John Goodman — which, fair, considering Goodman could do a deadpan and have half a set corpsing. He’s also given glowing praise to Sandra Hüller, describing her as “an extraordinary actress”. The rest of the line-up is nothing to sneeze at either: Riz Ahmed, Goodman, Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons all in the mix. Cruise takes the lead as Digger Rockwell — in case you couldn’t guess from the title.
Digger opens in cinemas on 2 October 2026.
So far, only critics have had much of a go at this one, and it’s anyone’s guess if wider audiences will side with Cruise or the Rotten Tomatoes crowd. For now, though, that’s where the cards lie.
Read more: After the reviews, Tom Cruise’s Digger is tracking to open with less than a tenth of its budget