Tom Cruise’s latest movie, Digger, had the actor trading impossible stunts for a bodysuit, prosthetics and a Southern drawl. And it just can’t stop getting bad reactions. We’ve already seen the movie bomb at the box office and give Cruise his worst Rotten Tomatoes score in years. Now, one actor best known for The Mummy movies added to the downbeat reception of the release with his own take that came out of nowhere.

Famously, Tom Cruise was in The Mummy back in 2017, and it got really terrible reviews. (Yes, much worse than Digger). However, Cruise’s latest bad review comes from John Hannah, the guy who played Jonathan, the brother of Rachel Weisz’s Evie in The Mummy movies that Brendan Fraser led. In his words:

Hannah slammed the film after sharing that he’d just gone to see it the night before during an interview with Cinema Kai Nation. The 64-year-old said he actually decided to leave his theater after getting a ticket for the latest Tom Cruise movie, something he’s definitely not used to doing.

Here’s how he explained his distaste for the flick further:

Now, clearly, John Hannah isn’t the only person who doesn't like Digger. The movie was divisive among critics and audiences weren’t into it either, considering they gave it a C+ on CinemaScore. These are some strong words against it, with Hannah calling it a “mess”.

Perhaps the bigger story surrounding the movie is the greater disinterest in the public going to see it. After having a worse first weekend at the box office than expected, the movie shot down to No. 8 in its second weekend at the domestic box office. So far it's made just $35 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $125 million. Suffice to say, Warner Bros. is losing money on this one.

One reason I’m surprised by John Hannah coming out and talking bad about Digger is because I really haven’t seen the actor do much press otherwise. The Scottish performer is set to rejoin Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy 4, which is already on the 2027 movie schedule almost exactly a year from now. However, this dig at Cruise's movie feels random.

I guess Digger and the disappointment and distaste around it are just one of the hot-button Hollywood topics right now. And I’m sure the public will continue to debate the movie for weeks, months and years to come.

These days, Alan Ritchson is synonymous with Jack Reacher. He’s been playing the character in Prime Video’s book-to-screen adaptation for four seasons, and he’ll continue to do so for at least two more, as Season 5 is in production and the series got an early renewal for Season 6. However, before he was cast, Joe Manganiello was up for the part, and he is alleging that he might not have gotten it because of Tom Cruise and their mutual connection to Sofía Vergara.

Manganiello claimed he was a frontrunner to play Jack Reacher in Reacher in his memoir Bloodlines (via Page Six). Apparently, he met with Don Granger, a Skydance Media exec, in 2020 about the part. They spoke about the role, including Tom Cruise not fitting the physical description of Jack Reacher. Along with this, the exec reportedly told the Magic Mike actor that he was “the closest thing to Jack Reacher that I’ve ever met in my entire life.” However, ultimately, he didn’t get the part. Why?

Well, Manganiello thinks Cruise might have had something to do with it, as he wrote his team had hedged at the time Cruise may have been involved, though the actor wasn't listed specifically.

It’s worth noting that Tom Cruise is not listed as an executive producer on the show Reacher, per IMDb. He did produce his own Jack Reacher movies; however, he has no credited involvement with the Amazon series that features Alan Ritchson as the titular character.

However, Cruise reportedly dated Vergara for a short time in 2005. Then, the Modern Family actress was with Manganiello for nearly a decade. The pair got married in 2015, and then their divorce was announced in 2023. So, at the time of Reacher’s development, he was still with Vergara.

Again, it’s not known what exactly played into the final choice; Manganiello stated what he and his team thought happened in his book. However, he also noted in his memoir that Jennifer Salke, who was the head of Amazon MGM Studios from 2018 to 2025, was not happy about potentially casting him as Reacher.

The actor wrote that showrunner Nick Santora, Skydance owner David Ellison and Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher books, were supposedly wanting to hire him, but she was allegedly upset because she was not a big part of the decision-making process. The actor wrote:

So that could have come into play when Ritchson got signed on, as well. Regardless, it's definitely some very juicy behind-the-scenes info either way.

Ultimately, it was Alan Ritchson who earned the role of Reacher. During a conversation with Empire, he said that the audition process was “very competitive and took over a year," so it doesn't sound like it was a cake walk for him or Joe Manganiello.

In fact, the first time he tried out for the part, “they passed on [him] and everybody else that auditioned.” Eight months later, the Fast X actor got called in again to audition in front of a new casting director with a new script, and then he was officially offered the part.

At the end of the day, Alan Ritchson is Jack Reacher now. So, if you’d like to see him in Reacher, you can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription. If you want to see what Joe Manganiello is up to, you can stream Season 2 of One Piece with a Netflix subscription and read his new book, Bloodlines, now.

Early on, it looked like Digger, the latest Tom Cruise movie that hit the 2026 movie schedule last weekend, would be a box office flop. So, I wasn’t surprised to see it fail, but I’m still shocked that a Tom Cruise movie is doing this poorly with moviegoers. Cruise is one of the rare Hollywood superstars who almost always guarantees a big opening and a big hit. The Mission: Impossible actor sells most movies just on his name alone. That name doesn’t seem able to overcome lackluster reviews for the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed film.

Teaming Up With A Great Director

To be clear, Digger isn’t a typical Tom Cruise movie, and I should note that I haven’t seen it yet. I haven’t seen it due to a confluence of events in my life that means I just haven’t had a chance to get to the theater to watch it, but I’m not here to condemn or defend the movie; I'm here to talk about just how shocking it is that it is such a massive box office miss. Cruise rarely misses, and to bomb at this level, both with critics and at the box office, basically never happens.

He’s teamed up on Digger with one of the best directors in the business. Iñárritu has won four Oscars, including Best Director for Birdman and The Revenant, and always seems to make interesting pictures. This one looks that way too, and maybe that is the problem? It’s hard to say, but I was excited to see Cruise step out of the action genre for the first time in a while and sink his teeth into an interesting role. I guess audiences weren’t as keen as I am.

Losses On An Historic Level?

Not every Cruise-led film reaches the heights (no pun intended) of Top Gun: Maverick or the Mission: Impossible franchise, but they basically always at least make their money back and more. That’s far from the case with Digger, which, as of Friday, October 9th, has only brought in $29 million worldwide, after a meek $8 opening weekend in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo. That’s on a reported budget of somewhere between $160 and $180 million, per Variety, though numbers are hard to pin down on the actual cost of Digger. Either way, it’s on pace to be one of the worst-performing Tom Cruise movies of all time.

Digger could very well become the most notorious flop of the actor’s career, overtaking The Mummy, and I really did not see that coming. I wasn’t all in on Digger ranking in money on the level of, say, War of the Worlds, but some in the media are already calling Digger one of the biggest busts of all time. It’s set to follow up its really poor opening weekend performance with a massive drop-off in its second weekend, well behind this weekend’s winners like Other Mommy, The Social Reckoning, and Verity in its second weekend.

The good news for Cruise is that this will likely just be a blip on his career, with his next movies likely being sequels, one for the legendary Days of Thunder and a third movie in the Top Gun franchise. It only goes up from here!

Sometimes Tom Cruise takes a bad rap from movie fans. That was especially true during Covid and the production of 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, when he was caught on tape in an angry moment lecturing the crew of the movie. His co-stars, on the other hand, usually have nothing but praise. In fact, one co-star in the M:I franchise, Melissa George, recently posted a video of herself and Cruise behind the scenes and captioned it with a lengthy comment about working with him. It’s all good things.

George, who starred in The Mosquito Coast, which you can watch with an Apple TV subscription, was cast in the franchise, and obviously she filmed some stuff, but in the end, her role was left on the cutting room floor when the final trilogy was rewritten. In the video, the Australian actress speaks with a French accent, but having no context for why, I’ll just assume it was for the role. She is speaking into the camera with Cruise behind her, filming a video saying hello to her kids. In the caption, George wrote on Instagram:

She then tells an anecdote about Cruise picking her up in a helicopter to take her to the set, saving her a couple of hours of commuting time from London, so that’s pretty awesome! That’s not all George wrote, though, as she also called him “kind, giving, and generous,” before she told another story about Cruise's generosity when her son was injured at home:

She wasn’t able to take him up on the offer due to poor weather, but you can tell in her writing just how grateful she was for the offer, and called Cruise a “gorgeous human being.”

While Cruise may get a little emotional on set, his co-collaborators usually say that it’s his passion that gets the best of him. He, according to many of them, is very dedicated to his craft and the success of whatever movie he's making. That may turn some people off, which is understandable, but when those around him are so generous with their praise, it’s probably best to listen.

Cruise’s latest movie, Digger, hit the 2026 movie schedule last weekend and has struggled, to say the least, at the box office, but it's a safe bet that his next big movies, Top Gun 3 and a sequel to Days of Thunder, will put him back on top.

I can't remember the last time I experienced a movie like Digger. One of the reasons I enjoyed it was because I went in unspoiled, so when I say there are spoilers in this article, know that I mean big spoilers.🛑 If you haven't seen the 2026 movie yet and plan to, I do recommend trying to go knowing as little as possible about the Alejandro Iñárritu movie. In which case, now's your chance to stop reading! 🛑

First and foremost, I liked Digger. I went into the movie with uncertain expectations, as reviews were mixed-to-negative, and there was already talk about the box office situation not being great (understatement). I ended up leaving the theater with a smile on my face, feeling pleasantly surprised to have experienced a film that felt truly one-of-a-kind. I can't remember the last time a movie surprised me like this one, and my enjoyment has only deepened in the days since. A big part of my enjoyment stems from that first jarring twist, and in retrospect, being kept in the dark at the start of the movie was more impactful than I initially realized.

The Twist In Digger

The movie drops a major twist that shifts the whole reality of the story. I'm talking about the moment in the film where there's a malfunction with one of the trees outside, and we realize that what seemed like an introduction to the movie's main character, Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), is actually a rehearsal for a high-budget stage production, and that Tom Cruise is playing an actor. It actually took me a little bit to fully wrap my mind around what was going on at that point, almost as though I'd been abruptly woken up in the middle of a dream and couldn't figure out what was real.

Up until this reveal, Digger seemed to be more or less what the trailer showed. Tom Cruise's character is exaggerated and unlikable, and though I absolutely love cats, I wanted to vomit the moment he used his fingernail to feed his ancient kitty a bit of fish that he scooped out of a can from his nightstand. By the time it's revealed to be a play, we've already learned quite a bit about Digger, including that his drilling company is causing a possibly major environmental disaster, and that John Goodman's character, President Compson, is battling cancer.

Level 4 Conditions

It wasn't until days later that my mind made the connection between the opening act of the film and the final words spoken in the movie. I kept going back to wondering why they would hide the actual plot of the movie (the play) from us for so long. After all, there were even bigger reveals to come later -- like that the play is telling a true story, and this whole thing takes place years into the future in a world that's been devastated by the disaster that came as a result of Digger and Compson's choices. Why keep us in the dark about this all being a play for such a long time?

Then I thought about the announcement that comes in the final moments of the film, about the conditions being "Level 4." It happens after the credits have started and we've gotten a long look at the state of the area outside of the theater, illustrating just how bad things are in the world.

It's the same announcement that came up earlier for the play's audience, prompting them to put on their masks, except this time it's for the film's audience. It happens as we're preparing to leave the theater, and sure, we're not putting on masks to shield us from pollution and the fallout of a global disaster, but we did just have our own experience as an audience member, and that started with the very first scene. We weren't really in the dark in the first act, we were right where we needed to be, watching the events that started it all, and it works because it was told to us as the story.

Why That First Twist Was Important

If I'd known this movie was about a stage production from the start, I might not have felt the same level of investment in the play's story that I did by the time that first reveal took place. Part of the movie's story is Digger's story. It's tied so heavily into why the play exists in the first place and the circumstances everyone on screen is living in. I needed to be invested in that as much as I was the rest of the story.

Presenting the play as the actual movie put me into that mode my mind goes to when I watch a film. It activated my imagination, suspended my disbelief and set me up to buy into the outcome before I was allowed to know that I was actually seeing the aftermath of that outcome. My level of investment began to build before the first twist, and then continued to simmer, even when the story moved us back and forth between the play and the rehearsal.

I'm not sure I can remember a time when I felt my role as an audience member so clearly, but it clicked here, when thinking about that final announcement, and it made me appreciate the movie even more.

Digger is absolutely a movie I'm going to have to watch again when it's streaming. In the meantime, I'm eager to see more reactions to the film from people who appreciate it.

Digger’s first reactions were all over the place. Many who have seen it either absolutely love it or they really, really don’t. And those polarizing reactions, as well as Digger’s poor box office performance, have been highly talked about following its premiere on the 2026 movie schedule. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu is aware of what everyone has been saying about his film, too, and now he’s shared his take on the matter.

For various reasons, Digger has been polarizing, and it’s left audiences (myself included) with a lot of thoughts. Objectively, it’s a big swing of a movie that puts Tom Cruise in a role we haven’t seen him in before, and it has a lot to say about how we treat the environment, political leadership, power, money, art and more. While there are plenty of people who appreciate the swing Iñárritu took – like Guillermo Del Toro, who called out the “petty” haters – many do not.

So, during an interview with the NYT, the director was asked if he worries about people not getting his movie. In response, he said:

He went on to say they kind of “expected” this reaction. In fact, Digger’s negative reviews were used in its marketing to prompt viewers to see the movie and make up their minds for themselves.

In the filmmaker’s words, Digger is not “ice cream”; it’s not a sweet movie that will provide “more certainty in the storytelling.” So, he knew people might have strong (and negative) feelings toward this film about an oil tycoon. However, Alejandro G. Iñárritu will take these passionate reactions over middling ones:

Well, it’s kind of like the saying “all press is good press.” He’d rather have people talking passionately about his film, even if it’s not positive, than have people feel just kind of meh about it. It’s also worth noting that Digger is not disliked by everyone, with Ron Howard even calling it “impressive on so many levels.”

Plus, this kind of strong reaction is what Digger is asking audiences for. It wants to provoke us and rub us the wrong way, I think. In fact, in NYT’s report, it’s explained that the film is a big swing and a “roiling satire” with a twist that leaves us wondering what’s true and what’s not and performances that are “high-pitched.” Following that explanation in the story, the director said:

It’s clear that Digger is showing us a heightened and scary version of a world that’s not totally unlike our own. I left feeling like I was supposed to feel unsettled and annoyed.

So, I can see where both audiences and the director are coming from, and ultimately, it’s made for one very interesting conversation about this film led by Tom Cruise.

It was only a matter of time that Jesse Plemons was asked if Kirsten Dunst reunited with Tom Cruise. When Plemons was first cast alongside Tom Cruise in Digger, I knew this would be the question someone would ask him. Not only did Cruise and Dunst reunite, but it was at the same studio where Interview with the Vampire was shot.

I’m not surprised that Dunst would seize the opportunity to reunite with her former co-star. She first starred alongside the Mission: Impossible actor when she was 11 and has since been a long-time recipient of Cruise’s Christmas cake. So when Plemons visited Entertainment Tonight his wife visit to set was brought up and that’s when the big reveal came:

For Interview with the Vampire fans, this is a big deal. The Neil Jordan movie was a hit when it released in 1994 and was a breakout role for Dunst. In fact, she credits Cruise’s advice for helping her land the role of Claudia. (He told her to tuck her legs in when he carried her so she’d look smaller, because she was the tallest girl auditioning.) Cruise played the role of Lestat alongside Brad Pitt in the role of Louis. Despite not having a sequel, Interview with the Vampire remains a favorite among fans of the A-listers.

Though this revelation makes me wonder if this is the same studio where Cruise and Pitt would drive Go Karts after filming. Either way it makes the reunion even more special between the co-stars, and Digger also serves a reunion for Plemons and Cruise who starred together in Doug Liman’s American Made (2017). If only we could have seen the two together on set as Plemons makes it sound so heartwarming:

While we never got a sequel to the cult favorite film, the Anne Rice series has been re-adapted for the screen in AMC Interview with the Vampire. This has taken the story of Louis and Lestat a step further by adapting past the first book and just concluded Season 3 The Vampire Lestat based on the second book. The series is expected to tackle the third book in the series Queen of the Damned for Season 4.

While it doesn’t seem likely we’ll get a Cruise or Dunst cameo in the series, fans are still equally obsessed with the characters. Plus, this doesn’t rule out the two working together in the future. Perhaps, they along with Plemons can find a project in the future that will reunite the three on screen. For now, you can watch Cruise and Plemons in Digger, which is currently in theaters as part of the 2026 movie schedule.

Although, if they were reunite on screen, if they shot at the same studio or even featured a vampire, fans would definitely want to watch that. I know I would!

Tom Cruise loves movies. This is a man who will happily spend his limited free time attending somebody else’s premiere, posting about 2026 movie releases he personally thinks audiences should see and then (of course) piloting his own helicopter to his own film release. So I was not exactly surprised to see him celebrating Digger after Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s strange, ambitious new satire finally arrived in theaters. What caught my attention was director Ron Howard showing up in the replies.

Cruise shared a collection of behind-the-scenes photos on X, thanked the people who helped make the movie, and told fans how proud he was of the finished product. He wrote:

Then Ron Howard, who directed Cruise in Far and Away, jumped in with his own reaction, and the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s comments about Tom's performance have me even more curious about a movie critics cannot seem to agree on. That division is exactly why his response interests me. Howard did not simply drop a “Congrats, Tom!” underneath the post. The Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind filmmaker had apparently seen the movie, and he had plenty to say about the Mission: Impossible star’s work. He wrote:

That tracks with basically everything the Top Gun franchise helmer has said about making Digger. The movie represents a pretty dramatic detour from the franchise-heavy stretch of his career, putting him in heavy prosthetics as Digger Rockwell, an obscenely wealthy oil tycoon whose actions help trigger an environmental catastrophe. Iñárritu surrounded him with a ridiculous cast, too. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emma D’Arcy all appear in the film, which was shot entirely in VistaVision.

Reviews have been all over the place. Digger currently sits around the halfway mark with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with reactions ranging from people calling it wildly inventive to others finding the whole thing exhausting and self-important.

Howard, who has been directing movies for nearly 50 years, lends significant credibility to his endorsement. He has a deep understanding of performances, and I appreciate that his praise isn't generic. When he says Cruise’s work needs to be “thought about and discussed” after viewing, it implies something more intriguing at play than just another instance of the actor excelling at being himself.

That lines up with some of the more positive reactions to Digger. Even critics split on the movie have singled out Cruise for throwing himself into a deliberately obnoxious, exaggerated character far removed from Ethan Hunt or Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Cruise praising his own movie might be a bit expected, but Ron Howard showing up unsolicited to call the performance “one of those rare ones,” though? Yeah, that moves the needle for me.

Digger is playing in theaters now, and given how violently divided people seem to be over it (and even Guillermo del Toro defending it against haters), this feels like one I need to see before the internet decides what I’m supposed to think.

Tom Cruise’s big 2026 movie release, Digger, is here, and for once we’re not talking about the actor’s daring stunts and action set pieces. This time it’s all about Cruise’s performance as a wealthy oil tycoon, and I had to ask the movie’s co-stars about what it was like to see the movie star take on the character in real time.

In Digger, Cruise plays an aggressive, egotistical and eccentric fictional character – which is very unlike Tom Cruise’s own reputation. I mean, he famously gives out coconut cakes to just about everyone he knows during the holiday season. During CinemaBlend’s interview with Riz Ahmed and Sandra Hüller, I asked Ahmed if Cruise was checking in with him in between takes, because during their scenes there’s a lot of intense yelling in his direction. In Ahmed’s words:

It sounds like Tom Cruise absolutely lived up to his name on the set of Digger despite his very different leading role. As Riz Ahmed told us, the actor gave him a round of applause even though he had just messed up. Ahmed also went as far as to say his co-star was “insanely positive”. Hüller shared her own take on working with Cruise with these words:

In Digger, Tom Cruise completely changes his typical on-screen persona by wearing prosthetics, a bodysuit and going for a Southern accent. The performance has inspired some polarizing reactions, which Warner Bros. has been embracing head-on for its marketing.

Riz Ahmed plays Dr. Nirav Ganesh, who is Digger’s head of environmental safety. When Digger’s offshore drilling rig located near Greenland cracks a massive glacier that threatens to cause environmental disaster, Ganesh is the one to share the bad news and advise him on what to do next. As you can imagine, Digger doesn’t listen to the doctor much. Hüller plays the role of Emma Rockwell, Digger’s half-sister and business partner.

Tom Cruise came to Digger with a storied career already under his belt, but it sounds like one of the reasons for his continued success is the way in which he treats the others around him. It’s great to hear from Riz Ahmed and Sandra Hüller that he was a pleasure to work with even when he was playing a real piece of work on set.

The movie also features the talents of John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jessa Plemons, Emma D’Arcy and Sophie Wide. You can check out Digger yourself in theaters now.

Tom Cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime talent with generations of fans. The accomplished actor has wide respect in the industry, with Steven Spielberg crediting him for saving post-COVID movie theaters with Top Gun: Maverick. That title introduced him to Glen Powell, and the pair of actors have made a habit of supporting each other's movies over the years. That includes Cruise's new 2026 movie Digger.

First reactions to Digger are mixed, so it should be interesting to see how audiences react now that it's officially in theaters. Tom Cruise famously supported Glen Powell's Running Man, and now his Top Gun co-star is returning the favor. Powell posted a photo of their pair (shown above) at the US premiere on his Instagram, with the caption reading:

Talk about a rave. Obviously Powell enjoyed Cruise's latest acting venture, and he's not the only one. For instance, Guillermo del Toro also defended Digger amid bad reviews. Regardless, it's heartwarming to see the way the Top Gun: Maverick stars continue to support each other. Clearly, they bonded on the set of that long-awaited sequel.

As previously mentioned, these two actors have made a point out of publicly supporting each other's new movies. In addition to coming out for The Running Man, Cruise also attended the European premiere of Powell's Twisters (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription). Luckily for fans they managed to snap a pic together at Digger.

The movie might have been getting middling reviews, but Digger is already firing back with A+ videos on social media. We'll just have to see how audiences respond to Alejandro G. Iñárritu's new movie, as well as Tom Cruise's performance in the title role.

Top Gun: Maverick was a wild success and helped to make a household name out of Glen Powell. He's been super busy in the years since its release, and Tom Cruise has been there to celebrate his co-star throughout it all. It's heartwarming to see the Anyone But You co-star returning the favor, especially with an accompanying photo from the Digger premiere. Fingers crossed that Top Gun 3 eventually happens so we can see them back on the big screen together.

Digger is in theaters now, and it should be interesting to see how it performs at the box office and with moviegoing audiences. Folks who want to rewatch Top Gun: Maverick can do so by streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.

Tom Cruise has been delivering great performances in film for decades, and he doesn't seem to have any plans to stop anytime soon. With Digger arriving in theaters on the 2026 movie schedule, now seems like a great time to dedicate a movie quiz entirely to Tom Cruise movies. If you're a fan of the actor's body of work, you should have no trouble solving all of the clues in this crossword puzzle.

Tom Cruise’s Digger has become one of those movies where the wildly split reviews are almost as entertaining as the film sounds. Some critics think Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s environmental satire is audacious and hilarious. Others have called it obnoxious, exhausting and flat-out unpleasant. Warner Bros. has already turned that divide into marketing material, so apparently everybody has chosen violence, but now Guillermo del Toro has entered the chat.

The Frankenstein filmmaker responded to an IGN post about Digger on X and took immediate issue with how the story was framed. Calling the headline “Entirely Petty,” del Toro reshared IGN’s post and made it clear that, love it or hate it, he personally digs the movie and admires its scale, ambition and reach.

The interesting part here is that del Toro was not simply objecting to somebody disliking the movie. His points are about a deeper conversation regarding the industry as a whole.

IGN critic Michael Calabro gave Digger a 6 out of 10, praising its performances and finding plenty of laughs while criticizing the satire. His full review actually says the theater is “undoubtedly the best way to experience it,” thanks to the production resources and artists working at that scale. Where things get pricklier is the recommendation that skeptical moviegoers save their money and catch it later on streaming, with an HBO Max subscription. That appears to be what got under Del Toro’s skin.

And I get it. A critic is completely entitled to tell readers a movie is bad, mediocre or not worth the ticket price. That is literally the job. Del Toro is equally entitled to look at a movie made by one of his peers, shot entirely in VistaVision and designed for IMAX, and say maybe reducing the conversation to “wait for streaming” misses something about the experience.

The debate is almost perfectly suited to Digger, because everybody seems to be seeing a different movie. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an enormously powerful oil tycoon whose drilling helps unleash an environmental catastrophe. He is buried under prosthetics, sporting a Southern accent and playing considerably further from Ethan Hunt than we are used to seeing. Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons and Michael Stuhlbarg round out the cast.

Critics have been all over the place. Its Rotten Tomatoes score has hovered around the low-50% range as more reviews have arrived. Warner Bros. apparently looked at that divided reception and decided to bottle it. A new ad flashes contradictory reactions like “unpleasant” and “masterpiece” before cutting to Digger himself saying, “F--- those people.”

Del Toro, meanwhile, has been defending the movie since before this latest dust-up. When the internet briefly became convinced Digger was secretly a musical, he stepped in to say it was not, while also calling the film “great.”

So his latest defense should not be particularly surprising. I still have to see Digger for myself, and with reactions this scattered, that now feels like half the fun. Maybe I’ll love it. Maybe I’ll hate it. But if Guillermo del Toro is standing outside the theater, metaphorically pointing at the door and telling everybody to go inside, I’m at least curious enough to buy the ticket.

Digger hits the 2026 movie calendar, opening in theaters and IMAX on Oct. 2.

A studio has a few ways to respond when the responses to its expensive new movie debut are all over the place, which is the case with Digger's reactions. A studio can cherry-pick the glowing quotes, slap five stars across the trailer and quietly pretend nobody used the word “insufferable.” However, it would appear that for the new Tom Cruise vehicle, Warner Bros. is choosing to directly address the polarizing reviews and haters.

Digger, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new climate satire starring Cruise as billionaire oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, has its review embargo lifted. With that, critics are immediately divided into two camps: those who didn’t dig it and those calling it a masterpiece. The studio shared a new promo on its official X account telling moviegoers to “Decide for yourself.” Better yet, the ad below pairs some of the nastier reactions with the high praise:

The promo repeatedly juxtaposes positive and negative reactions. When it shows a “Masterpiece,” it also shows “Unpleasant.” “Brilliant” faces “Baffling.” The ad eventually lands on the line, “Same film, different truth,” which is brilliantly paired with Cruise’s character saying, “Never afraid to tell the truth. Whatever dat is.” That is certainly one way to lean into a mixed reception.

At the time of writing, Digger sits at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes from 116 reviews, which is about as close as you can get to critics collectively shrugging and saying, “You’re going to have to handle this one yourself.”

The reviews themselves are all over the place. Variety called Cruise’s performance bombastic and the movie too didactic, while Time Out gave it four stars and commended its wild ambition. The Los Angeles Times landed somewhere in between, describing the movie as messy but finding plenty to admire in Cruise’s swing-for-the-fences performance.

Given these wildly different reactions, if I were Warner Bros., I might do exactly what they are doing here. From the very Digger first trailer, it seemed pretty clear that trying to sand off the weirdness would be impossible anyway.

Cruise has spent years reminding audiences that he can hang from airplanes, launch motorcycles off cliffs, sprint like the rent is due, and allegedly even optimizes his sports watching. Digger gives him something very different.

The movie casts him as an eccentric Texas oil magnate, whose company helps trigger a potentially disastrous environmental crisis. Cruise is buried under prosthetics, working with a broad accent and going method to play a character far removed from Ethan Hunt or Pete Mitchell. The supporting cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons and Michael Stuhlbarg. That alone makes the movie interesting to me, even before you get to Iñárritu swinging at climate change, greed and political dysfunction in the form of a black comedy.

Although some critics think those swings land and others think the movie falls over trying, it all makes Warner Bros.’ marketing response unexpectedly refreshing. There is something funny about a studio looking at reviews calling its movie “magnificent” and “insufferable” and deciding both belong in the trailer.

Digger hits the 2026 movie calendar, opening in theaters and IMAX on Oct. 2. At this point, I almost feel challenged to see which side I end up on.

Last week, the first reactions to Tom Cruise’s Digger hit the web, and they were quite varied. What seemed apparent was that the highly anticipated movie was proving to be divisive. Now, the reviews are here, and they mark an unfortunate milestone for the leading man. Cruise has officially notched his worst Rotten Tomatoes score for a film in nearly a decade.

After years of sticking to massive action movies, Tom Cruise opts for a dark comedy satire with Digger. Based on 99 reviews (as of this writing), the movie has received a 53 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews that have been shared thus far convey a lot of thoughts on Cruise's new movie. Check out what The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney has to say about this new 2026 movie release:

The last time a Tom Cruise movie received a “Rotten” score on the review aggregation site was in 2017, and that came by way of his failed reimagining of The Mummy. From a numerical standpoint, that was a lot worse, though, given that movie was given a 15 percent from critics and a 35 percent from audiences.

Since that horror-action flick, however, all of Cruise's films have been given high marks among critics and general moviegoers alike. The most favorable of that group is 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, which holds a 96 percent from critics and a 99 percent from audiences. David Ehrlich of IndieWire is mostly mixed on the film, which he compares to a particularly wild film from the '60s:

The film sees Tom Cruise play a fictional wealthy oil tycoon named Digger Rockwell, who must prevent a global catastrophe that he caused. The movie comes from Oscar-winning writer/director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who’s best known for helming acclaimed movies like Birdman and The Revenant. However, his latest only seems to be charming about half of critics. In his review for TheWrap, William Bibbiani makes note of the film's over-the-top nature, and shares some thoughts on Cruise's grandiose performance:

In the movie, Tom Cruise is barely recognizable as he wears a bodysuit and prosthetics and doesn’t participate in massive Mission: Impossible-esque stunts. The biggest set piece is perhaps a 10-minute monologue Cruise's character gives about climate change, which just about every review mentions. The Digger trailer suggested this would be a wild film, but it seems to have worked for some people. For instance, BBC's Nicholas Barber had some kind words to share:

Nevertheless, it seems like a number of pundits are left disillusioned with the film as well. After discussing the grim reality the film depicts, Los Angeles Times critic Amy Nicholson writes:

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how theater-goers react to the movie when it hits theaters this weekend. Per Box Office Theory, the movie is expected to open to $23 million domestically against a reported production budget of $130 million. It's also speculated that it may not open at No. 1 (with sultry thriller Verity potentially taking the top spot). Given the early responses to the film, we'll have to see if general audiences latch onto Tom Cruise's latest big-screen offering in the long run.

You can see Digger for yourself and make up your own mind, though, when it hits theaters this Friday, October 2.

Tom Cruise's life has always sounded slightly unreal to me. This is a man who flies helicopters, jumps motorcycles off cliffs, sends yearly Christmas cakes to former co-stars, and apparently thinks hanging from airplanes qualifies as another day at the office. So I probably should not be surprised to learn that even the way he watches sports sounds considerably more efficient than anything I have going on.

Bert Kreischer recently told a story about Cruise during an appearance on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, and TMZ posted a clip from the conversation on Instagram. Kreischer was talking with Rob Lowe, who worked with Cruise on The Outsiders, when he claimed people who have worked with the Mission: Impossible star have told him just how carefully his day is organized. He explained:

Kreischer was careful not to explain exactly where he heard this, so it is still a secondhand account rather than something the iconic '80s breakout star himself has confirmed. Still, the comedian sounded fascinated by what he had been told, for good reason. It seems like a dream.

Imagine wanting to watch Formula 1 but never sitting through a commercial, red flag or long stretch where absolutely nothing happens. Instead, somebody just hands you "Sports: The Director's Cut." Same with soccer. No dead air. No waiting around. Somebody has apparently constructed the sports equivalent of a movie montage specifically so the Mission: Impossible franchise helmer can watch it while working out.

The ridiculous part is that this sounds like a completely believable Tom Cruise solution to television. The man famously throws himself into movies with an almost frightening level of preparation. Of course, he may have found a way to optimize watching sports too. According to Kreischer:

The Machine actor's story has since made the rounds online, with reports describing a support team that allegedly coordinates the small transitions throughout Cruise’s day. Hence, there is almost no wasted time between one thing and the next. A meal waiting for you sounds nice. A shower already steaming is certainly luxurious. But I’m still stuck on the sports editor.

Cruise has been open to being a bit controlling and, let’s say, highly "motivating" when it comes to squeezing as much as possible out of his day. For his upcoming role in Digger, he undergoes a complete physical transformation with the help of makeup effects. The process originally took hours in the chair, but the Top Gun star reportedly pushed the crew to get it down to about an hour. The guy knows how to optimize a movie schedule.

Cruise has been associated with some spectacular celebrity perks over the years, but having someone personally recut an F1 race so you can watch nothing but the good parts while working out might be the first one I genuinely envy. I don’t need a private jet. I definitely don’t need to jump out of one. Just give me three hours of sports compressed into 45 minutes and leave the shower running.

I’m sure this is pretty common, but I’ve definitely found myself in the situation where I’m trying to steal a quiet moment for myself to do absolutely nothing of importance, only to be caught red-handed watching videos on my phone. However, exactly zero times has this moment involved Tom Cruise or any other brand of A-list celebrity. The star of the upcoming dark comedy Digger has gone viral after a video showed him checking on a woman who was actually just doomscrolling.

Tom Cruise seems to be everywhere these days, from sitting with Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game to promoting his new film Digger, which hits the 2026 movie calendar this week. He also turned up on a security video, where the actor is seen walking past a woman who was crouched down in what looked like a storage room and then turning back to see if she is OK. The clip is making its rounds on the Internet:

Many fans loved that someone as famous as Tom Cruise would take the time to check on a complete stranger — even though it turned out the staffer wasn’t actually in any distress. The two seem to clear up the confusion, and then Cruise offers a fist-bump before flashing that million-dollar smile and rejoining his team. Comments on the X (Twitter) video included

• I love this because not one person can call it performative. Just a kind man checking on another human. ❤️ – weetrina
• TOM Cruise saw a potential hostage situation and immediately initiated the rescue protocol. – Wesley14F
• And what did it cost him? 10 seconds of his life, yet he gave her something that could just lift her up in a moment she needed it most. – DestinLabs

Some people questioned the timing of such a good PR video coming out days before a big movie release (you can’t fault a healthy dose of skepticism in today’s digital world), but a lot of people were quick to share their own stories of positive interactions with Tom Cruise. MaratheParth wrote:

A couple of other alleged crew members from the Top Gun star’s movies also spoke out, cosigning what others were saying. Some Instagram comments included:

• He did the same thing to me on set! Hahaha I was working in front of the camera and just thought it was some grip trying to get my attention and then finally after several attempts I turned around and realized oh snap tom was trying to get my attention 😂😂 – Camayla2018
• I worked with him on Minority Report and can confirm he’s a very attentive guy and was great to the entire crew. – herrhonaker

I love hearing when celebrities are decent to the crew and other noncelebrities around them. We’ve definitely heard great things from within Hollywood, like that famous coconut cake list he has and the birthday tradition he has with Dakota Fanning (his on-screen daughter in War of the Worlds). Rosie O’Donnell has said Tom Cruise always remembers her birthday, and he apparently allowed Millie Bobby Brown to fly his helicopter.

Now it’s great to see that signature kindness caught on camera and confirmed through fans like X user missiontoaccept, who said of the viral video:

Fans will be able to see Tom Cruise being probably not-so-nice as Digger Rockwell in Digger when his new film hits the big screen on Friday, October 2.

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt both came up as actors around the same time, and have some of the best runs an actor can ask for from a Hollywood career. They also famously worked together Interview With The Vampire back in 1993, where they found some friendly competition driving Go Karts against each other. But does Pitt think he rivals Cruise on his new survival thriller, Heart of the Beast?

The latest of 2026 movie releases has Pitt playing a retired Army Special Forces veteran, James Belmont. Him and his German Shepherd have to brave the Alaskan wilderness after a seaplane crash. Here’s what Pitt said when he was asked if there’s a “healthy competition” going on between them to push themselves physically for movies:

Brad Pitt certainly doesn’t have the kind of reputation for action that Tom Cruise does, but he has been doing more strenuous roles lately. His last movie before Heart of the Beast was the F1 movie with the same filmmakers behind Top Gun: Maverick. As Pitt added:

Both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are in their early 60s, and showing the world that age doesn’t matter when it comes to being a bankable Hollywood star. Heart of the Beast director David Ayer, who was also in the eTalk interview, was quick to walk back on Pitt’s own answer. In the director’s words:

It sounds like Pitt really was put through the ringer to complete Heart of the Beast. As he shared after Ayer listed what he actually went through for the thriller:

Funny enough, Pitt and Cruise will have movies out at the same time between Heart of the Beast hitting theaters this weekend, and Digger coming out the following one. Digger is more of a character-driven satire for the action star that’s already dividing critics. Don’t you worry, Cruise isn’t quitting on stunts. Last month it was announced he’s making a Days of Thunder sequel with Anne Hathaway.

Pitt may not think he can keep up with Tom Cruise, but wouldn’t it be fun to test that out? For an F1 sequel, perhaps? Either way, we’re happy to see both of them in movie star mode this fall season in movies.

Swifties and non-Swifties alike got a little distracted last week when Taylor Swift went viral with that bold wedding ring moment. But as we join Jason and Travis Kelce in laughing at the great memes that came from Swift shouting, “That’s my husband!” after the tight end’s touchdown last weekend, many are still fixated on seeing her and Tom Cruise deep in conversation a week earlier. The Mission: Impossible star himself still seems to be thinking about it, and he shared his thoughts on possibly working with Swift someday.

Tom Cruise was doing promotion for Digger, which is set to hit the 2026 movie calendar on Friday, October 2, when he was asked if he’d ever appear in one of Taylor Swift’s music videos. His response, per Buzzfeed:

OK, so that’s a “no” on Tom Cruise in a music video. It did seem like a bit of a stretch, but Taylor Swift proved with “Opalite” — in which she got everyone who appeared on The Graham Norton Show with her to star in the music video — that inspiration can hit anywhere, at any time.

Tom Cruise may not have much interest in that form of media, but as he indicated above, that seems to at least partially be because he thinks Taylor Swift is capable of something even bigger. He continued:

That’s some pretty big praise from a guy who’s been making movies longer than Taylor Swift has been alive. It’s obvious from the divided first reactions to Digger that Tom Cruise isn’t afraid to take some big swings with the roles he accepts, but with the way he talks about Swift’s brilliance, I don’t even think he’d consider it that much of a risk to collaborate on a movie with her.

You have to wonder if the two broached that topic during their viral conversation at Travis Kelce’s Chiefs game. Either way, Tom Cruise definitely seems to have formed a bond with the Kelce family, so I’d think it’s likely that we’ll see them doing something together in the future, whether that’s a movie or just taking in some football.

For now, though, everyone’s keeping busy with their individual projects. Tom Cruise has Digger coming out, Taylor Swift has a new quartet of songs for The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, and Travis Kelce is staying occupied with football season. But we’ll be keeping our eyes open for what’s to come.

I would imagine that receiving a gift from Tom Cruise almost feels like being nominated for an award. At this point, it's no secret that the Mission: Impossible icon likes to send presents, and that includes the famous coconut cake that celebrities like Hayley Atwell and Glenn Powell gush about getting around Christmas time. Now, we can officially add at least one of Cruise’s Digger co-stars to the cake list, and they have a sweet take on getting the pastry.

Riz Ahmed stars alongside Cruise in the aforementioned Alejandro González Iñárritu film, and they seem to have become quite chummy. To that point, Ahmed revealed to E! News that he's since received his first ever Cruise cake, and I'm feeling serious FOMO hearing him talk about it. He shares:

Cruise has been giving out the coconut cake over the holidays for quite some time now, and anyone who needs evidence of that should look to Kirsten Dunst. Apparently, Dunst started getting the cake annually after working with Cruise on Interview with the Vampire -- over 30 years ago. So I'm tempted to think that Ahmed will be on the list for a while.

It seems the Sound of Metal star may want to watch out, though, as the famous cake is apparently very popular in his household. Ahmed said this:

Aside from the cake, the Top Gun icon is quite generous in other ways. Rosie O’Donnell says Cruise never forgets her birthday or any special event in her life. And for Cruise’s friends, the perks don’t stop at Bundt cake. While gushing about her “dear friend,” Millie Bobby Brown revealed she had “flown his helicopter before.” And we can’t forget, the birthday tradition he has with Dakota Fanning, who played his daughter in War of the Worlds. Cruise gifts her birthday shoes every year. So the coconut cake may not be the only thing Ahmed gets down the road.

Overall, though, it just seems like Ahmed enjoyed working with Cruise on their new film. Per the Rogue One alum, Cruise is “relentlessly positive,” and he also committed to his role as Digger Rockwell by going full method on set, which led to some jokes.

I'm looking forward to seeing the two co-stars in Digger when it hits the 2026 movie schedule on October 2. The first reactions to the González Iñárritu movie have been mixed, but many are still calling it a “big swing” and “impactful and hilarious.” Unsurprisingly, Cruise and Ahmed have also received praise for their performances. And, while their collaboration may be done, it's truly sweet that Ahmed will also have that yearly cake as a reminder of his friendship with Cruise.

There have been a lot of big movies to hit the 2026 movie calendar this year, with titles like Michael and Spider-Man: Brand New Day breaking some all-time records. It’s Tom Cruise, however, who’s got everyone's attention currently, with the impending release of Digger. First reactions to Alejandro González Iñárritu’s dark comedy have started to drop, and I have to say the divisive response from critics is only making me more interested in what exactly is going on here.

Even after watching Digger’s wild trailer, I had a lot of unanswered questions, but basically it seems like Tom Cruise plays the world’s most powerful man Digger Rockwell, who must save humanity before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything. A lot of the first reactions hitting X (Twitter) are overwhelmingly positive, as Carla Renata, aka The Curvy Critic posts:

Erik Davis agrees Digger is a “big swing,” that not everyone will enjoy, but it’s definitely worth the experience. Riz Ahmed is a “blast to watch,” Davis writes, and of the movie’s star, he says:

Josh Blumenkranz doesn’t quite buy into Tom Cruise’s unhinged look and accent, but the movie overall is a must-see satirical commentary on our world, he says. In the critic’s words:

As exciting as it is to see these rave reviews, it’s actually comments from critics like Mark Daniell of Sun Media, who uses words like “manic and melancholy” that have me even more excited than before to witness Tom Cruise’s performance for myself. Daniell writes:

But as most of the early reactions acknowledged, Digger is a divisive movie, and there are definitely critics who don’t think Alejandro Iñárritu and Tom Cruise quite nailed it. Joey Magidson of Awards Radar writes:

Showbiz 411 pushes back at the film’s designation as a comedy and ultimately labels it a “missed opportunity.” Their full reaction reads:

Love it or hate it, Digger is definitely going to have people talking, and the fact that it’s already causing strong reactions all over the spectrum just gives me another reason to be excited about it. If you’re as intrigued as I am, grab your tickets and that unique Digger popcorn bucket and get ready for Tom Cruise’s newest film to hit theaters Friday, October 2.

If there’s one thing everyone knows about Tom Cruise it’s his crazy stunts. He’s even risked his life for more than one stunt (Anyone remember him on top of the Paramount lots iconic water tower?) So nothing should surprise me. However, Cruise just shared a throwback story about speeding in a racecar with his pregnant sister on the Days of Thunder set and it has me stressed.

The Mission Impossible actor recently stopped by the New Heights podcasts to speak with Jason and Travis Kelce about his upcoming movie Digger. The story came up when Cruise veered from the topic of directing to the Days of Thunder sequel, which had him recalling this crazy story:

I don’t know if his sister was stressed, but hearing the story sure had me on edge. We all know that Cruise doesn’t fear death when he does stunts for his movies. But I wonder if his sister shares the same adventurous spirit? Or if she’ll visit him for a second lap around the track as the actor continues to live in his sequel era?

The Tony Scott film is getting a sequel which will bring the actor back behind the wheel as Cole Trickle. Of course, the actor is excited to get to set, and ready to “get back into that car again.” However, things have changed since the ‘90s, so it’s doubtful that a visitor will get to indulge in the need for speed. This wasn’t the case in 1990 as, according to Cruise, nobody seemed to mind him giving his sister a ride. When he was asked if there were any issues, he said:

Something tells me HR would have an issue today. Even Cruise confirmed that now you’d have to “sign something” and that they’d be keeping an eye on the speed. Given the change in the industry, the sequel will probably look slightly different behind the scenes. However, don’t let this disappoint you too much as knowing the Top Gun actor the stunts are going to be epic. Hopefully it won’t involve him having to relive that Digger bodysuit experience.

Meanwhile, back in the ‘90s, everyone encouraged Cruise to take his sister for a ride. The actor explained:

I’m sure there’s going to be a few scenes in the Days of Thunder sequel that will be just as awesome and have us all on the edge of our seats. However, at this time, details regarding the upcoming movie are scarce. While it’s not yet known if any of the original cast will join, we do know that the upcoming movie will have Anne Hathaway joining Cruise as a racecar owner and engineer. (Apparently, her break after five movies released this year won’t last too long.) Jonathan Levine is set to direct the project and it’s expected to have a 2028 release.

Although moviegoers are waiting to see Cruise back in a racecar, you can check out his method acting when the Alejandro González Iñárritu film Digger hits the 2026 movie schedule on October 2. And I’m sure Cruise is already planning to get at least one good stunt (or crash) into the Days of Thunder sequel that will have us stressed.

Tom Cruise has clearly entered a different chapter of his career. We know him as the guy who hangs off airplanes, launches motorcycles off cliffs and talks about movie theaters with the intensity most people reserve for their children. What we have not gotten much of over the years is him simply sitting around doing long-form interviews. Apparently, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger has changed that, too and, as a result, he's sharing some not-so-fun details on playing the film's lead character.

After recently hanging out with Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game, the Mission: Impossible star sat down with her husband, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason, for their New Heights podcast. The conversation turned to Cruise’s physical transformation into Digger Rockwell, and somehow wearing a fake gut and prosthetics sounds almost as miserable as some of his stunts. As he tells it:

Cruise is nearly unrecognizable in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s upcoming black comedy. Digger Rockwell has thinning gray hair, a heavier body and extensive facial prosthetics, leaving very little of the familiar Ethan Hunt silhouette behind.

The Jerry Maguire actor is accustomed to making himself uncomfortable for a movie. Still, there is something uniquely awful about voluntarily wrapping yourself in layers of rubber and padding before performing extended takes under hot lights. Add cowboy boots (which you can get in size popcorn bucket), extra weight putting pressure on his knees and a director famous for elaborate long shots and I understand why the crew developed its own language for getting him out of the thing. The Days of Thunder franchise star continued:

Nothing says movie-star glamour like somebody yelling “Digger down!” so your lead can be attached to an industrial cooling system. The challenge did not stop once the makeup was on. He also had to perform a lengthy monologue in the suit, something the Kelce brothers singled out during the conversation. He recalled:

If the Kelce brothers’ reaction to Digger is any indication, all that sweat and those long hours paid off. Travis even called the movie a “masterpiece.” I’m sure the film had a great script, and Iñárritu is obviously a brilliant filmmaker, but I have to wonder how much of the movie’s magic comes from the man buried under all that makeup.

The Top Gun icon responded to the grueling process the way he seems to approach any complicated problem: by breaking it down. He wanted at least six hours of sleep, shooting could eat up 12 hours of his day, and removing the prosthetics took even more time. Something had to give. Naturally, Cruise treated the makeup routine like Ethan Hunt planning an infiltration of the Kremlin.

He brought in a chalkboard and had each stage timed with a stopwatch. The makeup team practiced the individual steps until the process sped up, eventually cutting what had taken six hours to less than one. According to the Minority Report veteran, they managed that without simply rushing through the work. That may be the most Tom Cruise solution imaginable. The man found himself facing hours in a makeup chair and apparently decided the makeup department needed training drills.

All that work serves a very different kind of performance for the longtime action movie performer. Digger follows an eccentric oil tycoon scrambling to prove he can save humanity after helping cause a massive ecological catastrophe. The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Jesse Plemons, with Iñárritu directing his first English-language feature since The Revenant.

See Tom Cruise sport that bodysuit and the prosthetics when Digger hits theaters on Oct. 2 as part of the 2026 movie schedule.

Tom Cruise has spent years behaving like movie theaters appointed him their unofficial ambassador. He flies jets for our entertainment, hangs off moving aircraft and regularly uses his own social media to encourage people to see other filmmakers’ movies on the biggest screen possible. Steven Spielberg once credited Top Gun: Maverick with helping save theatrical distribution, too. At this point, I assumed Cruise probably hissed whenever somebody mentioned watching a movie on streaming. Apparently, I had him all wrong.

The Mission: Impossible star discussed his devotion to cinema and clarified something that may surprise people who have watched him spend years evangelizing about theaters during an interview with GQ. Apparently, he has absolutely no beef with Netflix, television or streaming. Cruise explained:

That tracks with pretty much everything the Days of Thunder star has done over the past several years. When Top Gun: Maverick finally hit theaters in 2022 after pandemic delays, he refused to send the movie directly to streaming. It eventually made nearly $1.5 billion worldwide, which is why Spielberg later said the blockbuster may have helped save theatrical distribution during a brutal period for movie theaters.

The Rain Man actor carried that same philosophy into his honorary Oscar speech at the 2025 Governors Awards. He talked about sitting in theaters as a kid and being fascinated by the beam of light hitting the screen. He also described cinema as a place where audiences from wildly different backgrounds can laugh, feel and experience something together.

So, yeah, the guy is serious about this. What I appreciate about his answer, though, is that he is not pretending folks with a Netflix subscription, or the streamer itself, somehow killed art. Streaming employs a ton of people and has given filmmakers another place to make things. Cruise just knows which version of the experience he prefers. Given the man’s filmography, I doubt anyone is shocked.

The Last Samurai performer’s comments arrive as he prepares for Digger, his first major departure from action-heavy franchise filmmaking in years. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s dark comedy stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, described as the world's most powerful man, who sets out to convince everyone he can save humanity after creating a catastrophe himself. The movie also stars Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons. It was shot entirely in VistaVision, and you can even get yourself a ‘Yeehaw’-worthy themed popcorn bucket for the flick's release.

Cruise remains pretty optimistic about where movies are headed. He acknowledged that Hollywood has always gone through ugly periods, but said he is excited by the number of people still showing up to theaters and what audiences seem hungry to watch. That enthusiasm feels very on-brand for a man who seems physically incapable of casually liking movies.

Digger hits the 2026 movie calendar and theaters on October 2, and I couldn't be more excited. As original and awesome as the movie looks, it's clear Cruise is in a bit of a sequel era, with a Days of Thunder sequel on the horizon. So, this fella is full of surprises beyond his non-beef with streaming.

When it comes to Kansas City Chiefs games, most football fans are probably mainly concerned with what Travis Kelce and his teammates are doing on the field. But we can’t ignore the fact that there’s also an enormous amount of interest in whether or not his wife Taylor Swift is watching from his family’s suite — and which celebrities have joined her. People had the funniest reactions to seeing Swift talking to Tom Cruise at the Chiefs’ season opener, and now I can’t get over the text the actor almost sent to Kelce beforehand.

Kansas City opened its season Monday night with a win against the Denver Broncos. We now know that Travis Kelce had invited the Digger star to join Taylor Swift, Jason Kelce, their moms and others to watch the game. What we didn’t know until Tom Cruise appeared on Travis and Jason’s New Heights podcast is what Cruise almost said in response to the invitation. The actor said:

OK, just try to look past the fact that the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium is in Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas. That doesn’t matter to Tom Cruise; he just needs to know where to drop his chopper.

Tom Cruise balked at putting a little extra pressure on Travis Kelce by saying if he made the trip to watch him play, the Chiefs better not lose. I doubt the text would have had much of an effect on Kelce anyway — as Cruise pointed out, the tight end probably already knew what the actor’s expectations were, because he has the same expectations for himself. Who would ever want to lose — especially in front of friends and family?

The big, loud laughs from Travis and Jason Kelce proved that Tom Cruise would have been totally fine if he’d chosen to send it. Maybe the added pressure of knowing the Mission: Impossible star was up there sitting next to his wife was a good thing anyway, given Travis’ performance. Jason Kelce even said they’d have to get Tom Cruise back for another game.

The friendship between the athletes and the Top Gun actor has been on display quite a bit lately. In addition to the podcast appearance and the Monday Night Football sighting, Tom Cruise was also one of the 1,000 guests at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in July. Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernández revealed as much when he spilled the tea on his experience at Madison Square Garden.

We’ll have to see if Tom Cruise takes up the Kelce brothers’ offer to attend more Chiefs football games, but we do know where else we can see the actor. Digger is set to hit the 2026 movie calendar on Friday, October 2, so be sure to grab a Digger-themed popcorn bucket and head out to theaters.

Unless there’s been an underground cloning experiment that I’m unaware of, it’s safe to say there’s nobody quite like Tom Cruise. With a career now spanning 45 years, and with no real falloff in sight — he’s going from wacky method-acting in Digger back to the Days of Thunder racetrack with Anne Hathaway — the actor/producer remains one of the only Hollywood icons who still fulfills the idealized definition of a “movie star.” So you’d think he’d spend his free time unwinding as much as possible, right?

Ha! This is Tom Cruise we’re talking about, people. Decompressing and spending time away from the industry just doesn’t appear to be part of his programming at this point, and his passion for filmmaking remains everpresent. Perhaps the best example of this intense devotion is his answer to the general question “What do you do when you’re not making movies?” When asked this during his GQ profile interview, Cruise simply stated:

Which is one of those answers that could be received as impersonal coming from the mouth of so many other people. But with Cruise, it's extremely easy to believe that there's more truth to that statement than not.

The article notes his go-to maxim regarding his work-life balance — "Making films is not what I do. It is who I am," — and there's a clear throughline there that he hasn't really strayed from much in the past 15 years or so of his career. (Not that he didn't hold to that in earlier years, but he seemingly doubled down after his divorce from Katie Holmes.) He can speak to practically any element within the business, from camera specs to the intricacies of stunt work to pulling off the perfect shot.

Would all of his death-defying Mission: Impossible stunts and his return for Top Gun: Maverick have been so successful without Cruise remaining dedicated to the cause during his off-time? Anything's possible, but his fans love him for maintaining his own status quo that never has him further than an arm's length from one Hollywood project or another.

To be fair, Tom Cruise is capable of doing things in his personal life that aren't directly in service of developing his next project. He's visiting movie sets like Star Wars: Starfighter, he's sitting next to Taylor Swift at NFL games, and he's got quite a talent with motorcycles and piloting smaller aircraft.

For all interview intents and purposes, though, Cruise makes it clear that he's far more interested in discussing his fascination with the art of filmmaking than he is addressing the fascination that moviegoers have with him and his personal life. Gotta give him props for taking on that approach even before social media made privacy that much harder to come by.

For funsies, I went back to see if I could find Cruise talking in the more distant past about what he did for fun when he wasn't filming. And I came across an interview with US from January 1993, where he shared this about his (and then-wife Nicole Kidman's) free time.

Of course Tom Cruise was already in his skydiving element at that point. I wonder if he got into it before or after Point Break hit theaters the year prior. Also, how was he not in that movie?

Find Cruise in one of his most unpredictable roles yet with Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger hitting theaters on October 2, 2026.

Movie theater popcorn buckets have officially reached the point where absolutely nothing should surprise me anymore. We’ve had NSFW sandworms, superhero heads and even a disgusting organ transplant bag thanks to Zack Cregger's Resident Evil. And yet, somehow, Tom Cruise’s upcoming Digger found a way to get me again. Let's just say those eager to see the movie may get a kick out of this theater souvenir.

Naturally, Digger's popcorn bucket is an actual, gloriously impractical boot-shaped container just waiting to be filled with popcorn, and I have only one reasonable response. Can I get a yeehaw? You can check it out for yourself in the Instagram post from the movie's official account below:

Warner Bros. revealed the boot bucket (which resembles the footwear Cruise's titular protagonist wears) ahead of the movie’s release on the 2026 movie schedule, and it’s honestly kind of perfect. The rust-colored container comes complete with black flame-like detailing running up the sides and the movie’s title worked into the front. Warner Bros. has so far only said the collectible is “coming soon,” without announcing a price, capacity or exactly which theaters will carry it.

But come on. Look at that thing. Part of the reason it works so well is that Digger already appears to be operating on a wonderfully bizarre wavelength.

The new film comes from Oscar-winning writer/director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a hugely powerful man scrambling to convince the world he can save humanity from a catastrophe he helped create. WB is calling the movie “a comedy of catastrophic proportions,” which feels increasingly appropriate every time we get another look at Cruise’s transformation.

So far, trailers have shown Cruise with a deeply committed Southern accent and enough swagger to make that cowboy boot feel considerably less random than it probably sounds on paper. Honestly, I appreciate that the marketing team committed to the bit.

Movie-themed popcorn buckets have become their own miniature arms race over the last few years, particularly after that infamous Dune: Part Two sandworm container went viral in 2024. Since then, studios and theater chains have seemingly been trying to figure out increasingly elaborate ways for us to consume approximately $9 worth of popcorn from objects that have no business holding food and are priced higher and higher.

Honestly, a cowboy boot filled with popcorn feels like the natural next evolutionary stage. Apparently, it may not even be the only Digger collectible headed our way. Yet another licensed container has surfaced: a more traditional popcorn tin decorated with Digger artwork, paired with a tiny shovel-shaped scoop. Because if you’re making a movie about a guy named Digger, you apparently leave no concession-stand pun behind.

Still, if I'm buying either of them, I'm taking the boot.

There is something deeply funny about imagining somebody walking into an IMAX screening carrying what appears to be a single piece of Western footwear, then reaching elbow-deep into the ankle for a handful of buttery popcorn. Yet I certainly won't judge anyone who chooses to get one of those eclectic trinkets.

Tom Cruise is joined in Digger by Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons, with Iñárritu directing from a screenplay he co-wrote. The movie was shot entirely in VistaVision and will arrive in theaters and IMAX on October 2.

Actor Tom Cruise has been an A-list movie star for decades, and has a bit of a reputation. Namely the 64 year-old actor's penchant for dangerous stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies (which are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) and more. Someone recently asked him if he's ever scared for his life during these sequences, and his answer surprised me.

Whether Tom Cruise is hanging off the side of a plane or he's sky diving to celebrate Top Gun: Maverick's success, he's known for looking death right in the eye as part of his career. In a profile for GQ, the beloved actor got real about his love for dangerous stunts by saying:

Honestly, I didn't expect Tom Cruise to get so deep about his stunt work. While I assume it was all about creating memorable and real moments for the big screen, it's about more than just each individual film project. He's hoping to connect deeper with the world, and understand different type of people and cultures. Traveling and doing his unique type of acting is also about forming those connections.

Cruise consistently risks his life for his movie roles, as well as extracurricularly as a thrill seeker. Later in the same interview, he went on to speak about why this unique way of traveling allows to understand other cultures in a way that a simple vacation does not. He went on to say:

Movies bring together, and for Cruise that happens long before each new title arrives in theaters. Because he seems to feel like that traveling for work and doing insane stunts allow him the chance to understand other cultures and POVs. And that's part of his stunt-heavy work that I never actually considered.

In the same conversation, Tom Cruise spoke candidly about death, and the possibility of something tragic happening during his wild stunts. Unsurprisingly, the Jerry Maguire actor seemingly isn't afraid to die, as he put it:

As someone who gets scared on rollercoasters or any other activities that involve heights, I simply can't relate. But I guess that's why Tom Cruise is an action star and I'm just writing about him. Still, this profile has shown new sides to the iconic actor, and it's fascinating to get into his head about his wild stunt work.

Tom Cruise will return to the big screen as the title character of Digger, which arrives in theaters October 2nd as part of the 2026 movie release list. It doesn't look like he's going to be doing crazy stunts, but I also can't put it past him.

As the Kansas City Chiefs played and Taylor Swift cheered on Travis Kelce from her suite, she could also be seen sitting next to a surprising A-lister: Tom Cruise. Yes, Tom Cruise, as in the star of Top Gun and Mission: Impossible. The two were seen chatting it up while the Chiefs played the Broncos. Now, following that airing on the 2026 TV schedule, fans have comments about it, and one really made me laugh out loud.

Now, before we get to the comments, allow me to show you the moment. The NFL posted the clip on X, and in it, you can see Swift and Cruise having a passionate conversation up in a box at the game. Take a look:

As is expected when one of the world’s biggest pop stars and movie stars interact, the internet has thoughts about this. Don’t worry, we’ll get to lots of their comments too. However, we have to start with the one that actually made me LOL. If you’ve been to anything at a stadium or arena, you know how painful it can be to get out of the parking lot after an event. That’s what this comment from @joshkilingler on X was about, and picturing Cruise dealing with that made me crack up:

It’s not just thinking about Cruise dealing with parking that makes this funny; it’s also the realization that he might not actually have to. He has a helicopter. As one comment pointed out, a helicopter could “drop a rope ladder down and he will open the window of the suite and fly away.” And you know what? Considering the Mission: Impossible star flew his helicopter to Simon Pegg’s house one time and asked if he could land his chopper on a Star Wars set so he could visit, I wouldn’t put exiting a football game via one past him.

While this whole theoretical situation had me laughing, plenty of other comments made me smile too. For example, many tweets had to do with the work conversations these two titans of their respective industries could have had or silly references to work they’ve already done. Take a look:

• Mission: Impossible IX - Shake It Off part one -@Risalahbola
• soundtrack for days of thunder 2 confirmed -@verybrookie
• taylor swift what do you know about digger. tom cruise what do you know about ts13 -@PHMmaroon
• Maybe 1.1 and 1.2 on the planet when it comes to putting Asses In Seats -@W_B_Rick
• I like to think they're just quoting Jerry Maguire to each other. -@CBSScottWhite

My first thought when I saw these two together was also about their work. I was particularly entertained by the ones about their upcoming projects. With Digger on the 2026 movie schedule and Taylor Swift’s 13th album being highly speculated about, I certainly was wondering if they were speaking about those things. I also can’t help but think about how cool it would be if Taylor Swift wrote a song for the Days of Thunder sequel that Cruise is set to star in alongside Anne Hathaway.

My second thought was they might have spoken about Swift and Kelce’s wedding. Marcello Hernández did say Cruise was the most surprising guest he saw at that event, so maybe the Mission: Impossible star was trading stories with the “I Knew It, I Knew You” singer from that night.

No matter what conversations were had, this pairing at this football game was unexpected, but very fun to see. What was even more fun were the funny comments that came after. Now, I’ll be curious to see if a collaboration comes out of it, and I’d love to know if Cruise got to this sporting event via car or helicopter…because really, either option is doable for him.

A Days of Thunder sequel is officially in production, which ensures that Tom Cruise’s “sequel” era will remain intact. The perennial leading man dropped the big news earlier this month alongside co-star Anne Hathway. Since then, there’s been speculation regarding plot details, though no one’s spilling the beans on the Jonathan Levine-directed film just yet. That hasn’t stopped real-life NASCAR drivers from pitching themselves for the movie, though, and they have some fun ideas about how they could factor into the plot.

Several of NASCAR’s most esteemed drivers were recently polled in regard to the Days of Thunder follow-up’s development. USA Today specifically asked them to share whether they’d prefer to appear as themselves in the film and play a teammate or rival to Cruise’s Cole Trickle. The answers ultimately varied, with Austin Hill, Chase Briscoe and Rajah Caruth throwing their hats in the teammate ring. You can see below what their rationale is for joining that camp:

• Austin Hill: I would say teammate. I'm already too much on the bad guy program as it is, so I want to be on the good side of things. So, I'll be his teammate, I'll push him to the win.
• Chase Briscoe: I'd rather be his teammate. I feel like the fan perception of the people that go and watch the movie — if they're not NASCAR fans — if they turn on a race on Sunday, they'd probably rather cheer for Cole Trickle’s teammate than his rival.
• Rajah Caruth: Well, think about it: What this will probably be like is, Cole Trickle is probably, what, 50-something? Like close to retired. So, I'd say teammate because then — I mean, you saw ‘F1,’ right? So you could be the young teammate.

I can certainly understand the allure of wanting to play one of Cole’s teammates, especially since such a casting could lead to some on-screen moments of camaraderie with Cruise. On a side note, I also love that Caruth mentions the dynamic between Brad Pitt and Damson Idris’ characters in F1 (which has been mentioned in crossover talk with Days of Thunder). I do, however, get why the likes of Joey Logano, Carson Hocevar and Chris Buescher would want to play Cole’s rivals:

• Joey Logano: I pick the rival. Always pick the rival… I think that's one of the first movies you watch as a kid is ‘Days of Thunder.’ I know my kids have watched it already. I don't know if they're old enough to actually do that, but we watched it because it's a classic.
• Carson Hocevar: Probably the rival. I think he’d get a little more screentime.
• Chris Buescher: I’m going to have to be his rival because we're going to be in a Ford and we're going to be working against him… That is pretty exciting. That was my favorite racing movie growing up. And I know a lot of people my age will lean towards the ‘Talladega Nights’ side, but that one didn't do it for me.

There’s just something appealing about being the “heel,” so to speak, and to do that when acting against Tom Cruise could be a fun prospect for an actor (or racecar driver). Of course, it remains to be seen whether any of those racers will actually appear in the movie. It does seem like a given, though, considering Cruise and co. seem to be collaborating with NASCAR on it. Racing veteran Jeff Gordon even claimed over a year ago that he’d been in contact with Cruise about the sports organization’s potential involvement in the film. Not to mention the fact that Richard Petty, Neil Bonnett and other notable drivers appear in the original 1990 film.

It’s hard to say which real-life racers may or may not lap Cole Trickle in Days of Thunder but, at the very least, I’m psyched that Anne Hathaway is joining the film. The Oscar winner is playing a character who’s both an owner and an engineer, and Cruise shared glowing thoughts about her taking on the role. Fans seem pleased as well, with many also hyping the fact that Hathway’s latest role further drives home the point that she remains booked and busy.

As can be expected from a Tom Cruise movie, this latest sequel is set to be quite ambitious, and it’s going to be shot for the IMAX format. I can practically hear the roaring engines and screaming crowds of the stadiums now, and I hope those raceways are populated by NASCAR veterans eager to make cameos. Check out the Days of Thunder sequel when it hits theaters on June 2, 2028 and, right now, stream the first movie with a Paramount+ subscription.

Over the past few years, we've seen some of Tom Cruise' best movies return to theater with long-awaited sequels. And after Top Gun: Maverick's record-breaking performance, he's bringing another Days of Thunder movie to life, with Anne Hathaway set to star alongside him. And the Mission: Impossible icon recently gushed about the Oscar-winning actress' talents ahead of filming.

Reactions have been rolling in about Anne Hathaway's casting, mostly fans wondering when the A-lister sleeps. Tom Cruise recently appeared on a clip from The Pat McAfee Show, and spoke about his future co-star's versatility as an actress. In his words:

Honestly, he's not wrong. Hathaway's work spans plenty of genres, including genre work, drama, and comedy. I usually say that she's never given a bad performance, and stand by that assessment of her work across the years. So even though she's got some big shoes to fill with Days of Thunder (namely Nicole Kidman), the Devil Wears Prada actress' talent speaks for itself.

It should be interesting to see what the long-awaited sequel brings to theaters, and if the new Days of Thunder is as successful as Tom Cruise's other recent movie blockbusters. Later in the same interview, he went on to speak about the quality of the movie, and what type of role Anne Hathaway will end up playing when it hits theaters in June of 2028. He offered:

I'm listening. While we won't see this movie for a few years, this is a fun tease about what the dynamic between Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway's character might be like. While Cruise's Cole Trickle will be back as a NASCAR driver, Hathaway will be an engineer and business woman behind the sport. I have to summer that they might clash a bit, but only time will tell. Anne Hathaway is about to give birth, so I assume it might be a while before we get any concrete updates about the new Days of Thunder movie.

As previously mentioned, Cruise has been on a serious hot streak with his recent movie projects. Steven Spielberg credited him with saving the post-COVID film industry with Top Gun: Maverick, and the last two Mission: Impossible movies crushed, Additionally, there's a ton of hype around his mysterious upcoming movie Digger.

The new Days of Thunder is currently expected to hit theaters on Jun3 2nd, 2028. But first Cruise will return to theaters with Digger on October 2nd as part of the 2026 movie release list.

Every streaming service regularly releases exciting new projects, and those with an Amazon Prime subscription are about to be treated to The Runner. Directed by Godzilla X Kong filmmaker Adam Wingard, the thriller follows Gal Gadot's Maia, a lawyer who must run though London (literally) at the behest of a mysterious caller who kidnapped her son. The Wonder Woman alum had to do a ton of cardio as a result, and told me show she channeled Tom Cruise for the role.

Tom Cruise is known for running on camera, thanks to roles in projects like Mission: Impossible franchise. I couldn't help but think of him when watching The Runner, which saw Gadot running around London for the majority of its runtime. As you can see in the vide above, I asked the actress about the physical toll of filming the new movie, and she told me:

Having seen the movie in advance, this definitely tracks. But considering how Gal Gadot has filmed physically grueling roles like her tenure as Wonder Woman in the DCEU (streaming with a HBO Max subscription), the fact that The Runner was so much worse shows just how intense the shoot was. The 41 year-old actress worked with an Olympic trainer to get into shape, which allowed her to run pretty much every day, often talking on the phone at the same time. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

As you can see in the above video, I joked with Gadot and asked her if she was prepared to dethrone Cruise as Hollywood's best runner. She laughed it off, and responded with:

Gal Gadot is putting the proper respect on Tom Cruise's name, but maybe we can name her as the second best runner in Hollywood? She surely deserves it after running through the streets of London for months while shooting The Runner. We'll just have to see how audiences response to the movie as it arrives on Amazon.

The Runner is streaming September 2nd as part of the 2026 movie release list. I was exhausted simply watching the thriller movie, so I can't imagine how intense it was for Gadot.

Tom Cruise is venturing into new territory as an actor with his upcoming 2026 movie release, Digger, but it’s also apparent that he’s still in his sequel era. Earlier this year, it was reported that Cruise would reprise his role as Cole Trickle for a Days of Thunder sequel. Since then, nothing about the production had officially been announced. That’s changed, however, as Cruise has now confirmed the movie himself. Not only that, but he also revealed his first new co-star, Anne Hathaway, who delightfully poked fun at him in the announcement video.

One thing I can say about Cruise is that he’s full of surprises, and I certainly wasn’t expecting him, Hathaway and Paramount Pictures to casually confirm the Days of Thunder follow-up on Saturday. The funny clip was posted to Instagram, and it sees Cruise and Hathaway chopping it up on a racetrack, before revealing a car adorned in the movie’s logo. What really strikes me is the playful back-and-forth between the co-stars, which includes Hathaway joking with her co-star about his attempts to land on a tagline for their film:

I’m already excited to see these two actors play off each other on the big screen. Few specifics on Hathaway's character are available at this time but, per a release, she'll be playing a team owner and engineer. Personally, I love that she's playing a character with a connection to the racing world. And, her character and Cruise's Cole positioned to bust each other’s chops every now and then, I’m so ready for that. Regardless, though, this video alone convinces me that Hathaway and Cruise will be fun to watch together.

Directed by the late, great Tony Scott, the very rewatchable Days of Thunder sees Cruise play ambitious racecar driver Cole Trickle, who seeks success in the racing game. As Cole navigates the ups and downs of the business (and battles injuries), he forges a complex bond with former rival Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker). On top of that, Trickle also starts up a relationship with brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Claire Lewicki (Nicole Kidman).

The 1990 sports drama may not get the love that Top Gun receives, but it still stands as one of Cruise’s signature films. It also still seems to hold a warm place in Cruise’s heart, as he paid homage to the movie as well as producer Jerry Bruckheimer amid the release of the latter’s latest racing flick, F1, in 2025. Since the release of that Formula 1 movie, many, even director Joseph Kosinski, have joked about a crossover film. (And, quite frankly, I think such a movie would dominate at the box office.)

As for the DOT sequel, it’s being directed by Jonathan Levine, and Bruckheimer is returning to produce. What's also exciting is that the film will be shot for the IMAX format, which follows in line with Cruise's more recent theatrical releases.

While I’m already sold on the notion of Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway sharing the screen, I already have other questions. One thing I’m curious about is the title, which is simply being referred to as Days of Thunder at this point. Considering that’s the exact title of the first film, I’d be surprised if that name actually sticks. This could be a situation in which the creative team is using this as a placeholder title. But, of course, that’s just my assumption.

The premise is also on my mind, as I can’t help but wonder where audiences will pick up with Cole all these years later. I mean, is he still racing and is forced to jump back into the driver’s seat, or is he still a legitimate racer over 30 years later. Additionally, I wonder if any surviving cast members from the first movie will be involved like Rooker, John C. Reilly or Cary Elwes. I’d also love it if the creative team were to find a way to honor the character of Harry Hogge, who was played by the late Robert Duvall.

What I can say, based on Tom Cruise’s track record, is that he puts a lot of thought into the projects he selects. So there was clearly a hook within this sequel’s story that caught his attention and that of Anne Hathaway. My ears are perked up and ready for more information on this movie, and I remain excited to see Cruise reprise Cole. At the same time, here’s hoping that we get to see more playful banter between Hathaway and Cruise sooner rather than later.

The new Days of Thunder movie is set to race into theaters on June 2, 2028! In the meantime, prepare by streaming the original film with a Paramount+ subscription, or check it out for free on Pluto TV.

Sydney Sweeney is pretty fearless in a lot of ways. She’s sporty, she works on her own cars (Broncos specifically), her Euphoria Season 3 plotlines were not for the faint of heart. Oh yeah, and she dove into the producing realm to take more control over the projects she’s in. Now, she’s taking a move from Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible book and walking on the wings of airplanes… for a fun date with Scooter Braun?

We know Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun have spent a lot of time together this summer. He visited her down under when she was filming Gundam. She came back to the States so she could be one of the celebs to watch New York's beloved Knicks win the NBA championship. Now they are getting into their plane stunt era, and she is specifically calling out Cruise. Take a look.

Yeah, this is like a safer, strapped in version of Tom Cruise crawling around the outside of the plane in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Still, I’m not sure I would have the stones to commit to getting out there on the outside of a plane like the actress does. Maybe more action-adventure movies are in her future? She seems up for the task, considering the fact that earlier this summer she also posted about flying in helicopters, bungee jumping off a very high platform, racing go-karts and riding around in a very fast boat. Clearly, she's up for an adrenaline rush.

I thought she was out there just trying her hand at stunt work for giggles, but later in the week she confirmed this was for yet another date day with Scooter Braun.

Rumors that the celebrity couple were an item started swirling in 2025, but Scooter Braun didn’t actively open up about the “extraordinary woman” he’s been dating until May of this year. As noted prior, over the summer, they amped things up a notch with many destination adventures, including this plane-oriented date. Here’s the plane with Scooter on top of it.

I'm interested in all of this high-octane content, because it kind of gives us an idea of what the actress is capable of as we approach the release of her high-profile upcoming Netflix movie. Gundam's being described as a science fiction space adventure with an action bent, and it's based on a Japanese anime franchise with a built-in fanbase. It's been coming together for what feels like forever, and it looks like Sweeney has the adventurous spirit for the role.

Sydney Sweeney walking on the wings of a plane would have always had my attention, regardless of any Tom Cruise comparisons, but the fact she’s gunning for the famous actor and stunt expert has me enjoying her content even more.

Tom Cruise has accumulated almost as many wholesome celebrity stories as he has stories about him risking his life for a stunt. There is the famous Christmas cake. Rosie O'Donnell says he has remembered her birthday for more than 25 years. He regularly uses social media to hype other filmmakers' movies and keep people going to theaters. I even recently learned that Millie Bobby Brown considers him a dear friend and has flown his helicopter. The guy apparently keeps a very interesting contact list. Still, Dakota Fanning's story may have all of those beat.

During a new appearance on Happy Sad Confused, the former child star confirmed that Cruise is still carrying on the birthday tradition they started after making War of the Worlds more than 20 years ago. The exchange was shared on Josh Horowitz's Instagram, and the whole thing somehow gets sweeter once Fanning explains why the Mission: Impossible star refuses to let the tradition of buying her shoes die. She said:

Tom’s War of the Worlds co-star was only 10 when she played his daughter Rachel in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds. She turned 11 while they were making the movie, and the Top Gun actor gave her what was basically the holy grail of middle-school technology at the time: a Motorola Razr. After that, the gifts turned into shoes. Lots of shoes.

Fanning has previously talked about how he has kept the birthday tradition alive, but I did not realize just how committed he apparently is to the bit. Horowitz asked what kind of shoes she gets after all these years, because presumably Cruise has worked his way through a decent portion of the footwear aisle by now. The Alienist star laughed and said:

Then came the question I would absolutely ask. Is Tom Cruise personally picking out Dakota Fanning's birthday shoes every year, or does someone on his team receive an annual calendar notification that reads, "Dakota. Shoes. Don't screw this up"? According to her, the longtime action star says he is involved:

Honestly, I wouldn't ask either. As they say, “never look a gift Cruise in the mouth.” Or something like that. At some point you just accept that the Minority Report helmer apparently decided you are getting shoes for life.

This is hardly the first story about the three-time Oscar nominee being weirdly thoughtful with old friends and co-stars. His white chocolate coconut Christmas cake has become Hollywood lore, with recipients practically treating its annual arrival like an event.

He also regularly champions other people's movies. Earlier this year, Cruise gave Steven Spielberg and Emily Blunt's Disclosure Day a very public boost, continuing his habit of encouraging audiences to show up for theatrical releases even when his name is nowhere on the poster.

But Dakota Fanning’s story gets me because the shoe gift has lasted for more than 20 years. The two met when she was a kid, and he found a simple way to stay connected and apparently decided there was no expiration date. At this point, I just hope the Twilight Saga actress has a very large closet or maybe a second home just for her ‘Cruise Shoes.’

Tom Cruise’s best characters may come from franchises like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun. But his films like Rain Man, Jerry Maguire, Tropic Thunder and more prove he’s more than just an action star. On that note, Cruise’s new movie with Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Digger, appears to further demonstrate the actor's versatility. If you need more reason to believe the Risky Business actor is going all out for his role as the titular billionaire, his co-star, Riz Ahmed, says he went full method, and jokes were made about that.

When I watched the trailer for 2026 movie release, I was mesmerized by Tom Cruise’s unrecognizable look and broad Southern accent. With that, I honestly forget this was the same actor who hung from the ceiling in Mission: Impossible. After filming wrapped, Digger's Riz Ahmed’s spoke with Empire and admitted that Cruise's method acting really had an effect on him as well:

I completely understand. There are some actors who flawlessly transform into their roles when the cameras are on and return to themselves when filming is over. But then, there are method actors like Jared Leto, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and more, who allow themselves to get lost in their roles, with their true selves being non-existent throughout the shoot. I love hearing about Cruise committing to his role as oil tycoon who must save humanity from a massive fissure (that he caused) in the Earth.

With Tom Cruise fully absorbed in the role of Digger Rockwell, it sounds like Ahmed didn't quite get to know his co-star as his regular self amid filming. On that note, the Sound of Metal star joked around plenty about Cruise not being present in the Alejandro G. Iñárritu film. Ahmed even recalled a quip he threw Cruise's way later on:

Cruise’s new role is arguably similar to his Tropic Thunder character, Les Grossman. In playing that character, the Oscar nominee was hard to make out through that male pattern baldness hairpiece and faux gut. It's refreshing when Cruise gives frantic, whimsical performances, and it shows just how far he’s willing to go to bring a character to life. On the topic of Digger, Riz Ahmed went on to share thoughts about how Cruise may have felt while portraying his alter ego:

I can imagine how invigorating it must've been for Cruise to play a role like this one. Another Digger co-star, Emma D’Arcy, even said she found Cruise’s performance “unparalleled” and “extraordinary” as he immersed himself in the part.

First reactions to Cruise’s Digger footage at CinemaCon included a considerable amount of praise for the gray-haired, southern oil magnate. Let this be another reminder that Cruise is not afraid to step out of his comfort zone (in a way that doesn't involve dangerous stunts) to completely disappear into a character.

Based on Riz Ahmed’s takes, it sounds like we’re truly going to see Tom Cruise in a way we’ve never seen before. Method acting was a mission clearly not so impossible for Cruise, and I’m all the more excited to see how far he’ll take the bizarre role when Digger hits theaters on October 2nd.

Most people visiting the set of a new Star Wars movie probably show up in a production van, flash a badge and try very hard not to touch anything expensive. Tom Cruise, naturally, had another idea. When the Mission: Impossible star decided he wanted to visit Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter set, his first logistical question was apparently whether there was enough room nearby to land his helicopter.

Levy laid out the already-ridiculous story in a Rotten Tomatoes Instagram video, explaining that Cruise asked where they were filming and followed it with, “Can my chopper land there?” The answer was yes. So the Mission: Impossible star flew himself over, landed near the production and spent several hours hanging around with the cast and crew. Because, of course, that is how he visits any film set. Seriously, you've got to hear this story for yourself.

Somehow, landing a helicopter was only the opening act. Levy previously revealed that the 64-year-old action icon arrived while the crew was shooting a lightsaber fight. The director jokingly suggested that the Top Gun: Maverick star grab a camera, which he apparently interpreted as an actual job offer. Before long, he was standing ankle-deep in mud and pond water trying to frame shots for the sequence. Levy has since confirmed that some footage Cruise shot will actually appear in the finished 2027 schedule release. It's wild to think this all started with a small gesture as Levy explained:

As previously revealed, the crew reportedly even played the Mission: Impossible theme over the loudspeakers when the Hollywood heavyweight arrived, which is maybe the only appropriate response to seeing Ethan Hunt descend from the sky in real life. This whole story was already legendary, but it gets even better because lead actor Ryan Gosling missed it all.

The Barbie star has said he was on the Starfighter set essentially every day during production, only for Cruise to arrive on one of his rare days off. Gosling later admitted he was still a little salty about the timing, joking that he hoped the longtime theatrical draw choosing that particular day was an accident. Instead of meeting him, Gosling received photos from Levy showing the Mummy veteran and young co-star, Flynn Gray, standing together in the mud.

Imagine calling out of work one day and finding out Maverick himself landed a helicopter in the parking lot, grabbed a camera and helped shoot a lightsaber duel. I would be bringing that up for years. The Minority Report alum was not the only Hollywood heavyweight to stop by. Steven Spielberg also visited Levy during production, and I'm amazed that Starfighter somehow had the director of Jaws and the star of Mission: Impossible casually wandering around set.

The actual movie will see Gosling star alongside Gray, Amy Adams, Matt Smith, Mia Goth and Aaron Pierre. It takes place several years after The Rise of Skywalker and is scheduled to reach theaters on May 28, 2027. Rumors have swirled around Starfighter , as what we know about the film is relatively little. So, naturally, it has us waiting.

I remain giddy, however, over the notion that somewhere in this movie is a lightsaber sequence partially filmed by Tom Cruise after he flew a helicopter onto the set for what was supposed to be a casual visit. All in all, this is a story that'll be long remembered.

As we patiently wait for Starfighter and Cruise's lightsaber battle to hit theaters, we can console ourselves by revisiting all of the Star Wars movies and TV shows, which are available to stream in order with a Disney+ subscription.

Celebrity couples have always fascinated the public. While in recent days pairs like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce or Zendaya and Tom Holland make headlines, in the '90s it was all about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage. And hold the presses, because the Big Little Lies icon made some rare comments about that relationship and time in her life.

Despite the decades that have passed, the public remains invested in Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's years together. They've both had marriages since then, but there's something about this pairing that continues to turn heads. During an interview with British Vogue, the Moulin Rouge! star spoke about tying the knot with Cruise as a young actress. As Kidman put it:

Honestly, can you blame her? While Nicole Kidman was also an A-list movie star, Tom Cruise's starpower could not be understated... especially in the '90s. And while outside voices advised her against tying the knot with the Mission: Impossible star, she refused to listen. Instead she followed her heart, and the pair of celebrities got married in on Christmas Eve 1990. They would end up married for a decade before their eventual divorce.

In the same interview, Kidman went on to share how those same voices and naysayers continued weighing on her relationship with Tom Cruise after their nuptials. In her words:

Of course, that's not exactly what happened. Kidman has been working consistently for decades, so marrying Tom Cruise didn't kill her career. In fact, she'd gone on to win the Oscar for The Hours in 2002, just one year after the former couple's divorce. Of course the timing of this turned heads and made even more headlines at the time.

Nowadays Kidman is known for being basically the busiest woman in Hollywood, as she's constantly releasing new movie and TV projects. Seriously, when does this woman sleep? Just this year she starred in a number of TV shows: Lioness, Margo's Got Money Problems, and Scarpetta, each of which is on a different streaming service.

Nicole Kidman will return to the big screen shortly in Practical Magic 2, which arrives September 11th as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for Tom Cruise, his next big movie is Digger on October 2nd.

It’s no secret how much Rosie O’Donnell loves Tom Cruise, as the actor has been clear about her adoration of him since her talk show was on the air. And although the two haven’t had the opportunity to be on the big screen together, this hasn’t stopped the Digger star from showing love to O’Donnell. If you need any proof, just check out the sweet gesture the actor gets from Cruise every year. And before you guess, it’s NOT the Bundt cake he sends to celebs every Christmas.

I always found O'Donell and Cruise's friendship interesting, as the two seemingly have very different world views. But a difference of opinion hasn’t stopped O’Donnell from being friends with someone before. While she has often spoken about how highly she thinks of him, she’s also been blunt about her feelings toward Scientology. In fact, she has praised King of Queens star Leah Remini as “a hero” for fighting against the religion. She brought up the Mission: Impossible actor and a fun fact about their friendship when SiriusXM asked if her “crush on Tom Cruise had abated” over the years:

This may shock some people to know that not everyone knows each other in Hollywood. Though this proves how dedicated Cruise is to his kind gesture, despite their differences, which is similar to her previous friendships from The View. The actor often reflects on the infamous Elisabeth Hasselback fight that occurred on the show. Despite sharing very different political opinions, the two celebrities were friends until a disagreement over the Iraq War blew up at the end of their time together on the talk show.

O’Donnell has spoken out about Scientology, calling it “a cult” that she doesn’t understand. Though she continues to praise Cruise, stating, “I will always love [him].” Additionally, she says that he's the “only person” who never missed her birthday in over 20 years. And each time she thinks the same thing:

Talk about commitment. While Cruise has an Alejandro G. Iñárritu film coming out this October, O’Donnell hasn’t done a ton of a film work in the last few years. But she has popped up here and there on TV, such as an appearance in Season 4 of Hacks and an episode of And Just Like That. And she was briefly rumored to be taking over Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, which she quickly shut down.

But she is open to returning to The View, despite what happened the last time she visited the daytime show. The actor got off to a tense start in 2014 with host Whoopi Goldberg and explained that they weren’t “as instantly compatible” as she hoped. But the actor would still love to return for the show’s milestone upcoming season in whatever way they want her back. Though she has yet to receive a formal invite for the planned 30th anniversary.

Luckily for her generations of fans, Rosie does have a one woman show in New York called Common Knowledge, which you can currently buy tickets for. I wonder if she'll tell any Cruise stories?

First a viral sexy glasses moment, and now everyone is talking about Andrew Garfield’s hair. And I can’t say I blame them. Yet it hasn’t seem to come up during press tours. Most of the time the actor is fielding questions about Spider-Man. Until now. Someone finally asked Garfield about him growing out his long, luscious locks and I can’t get enough of his answer.

Garfield and Claire Foy joined Entertainment Tonight to chat about their upcoming movie The Magic Faraway Tree when the conversation took a turn to his hair. And Foy, speaking for all of us, needed to know what his “updo of choice” is. But I never expected the answer to involve Tom Cruise. As he put it:

Sadly, we won’t be getting to see Garfield sporting the Cruise look. The actor was quick to dismiss that notion, stating the lock as “only been in private.” Furthermore, he even said he’s “gotten a lot of flack for it." Although this makes me even more curious to see this look.

Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing the style in Ben Gregor's The Magic Faraway Tree. By the looks of the trailer, we’ll be seeing a more typical Garfield hair-style. The movie will be released in the U.S. as part of 2026’s summer releases, hitting the box office on August 21. Garfield and Foy play the parents of three children, who move to the countryside only to discover a realm that takes them to magical worlds.

Despite the lack of his epic locks, I’m definitely on board to explore some magical worlds and meet some quirky characters. But while dishing on the movie, Garfield answered the question we’re all thinking: Is he planning to keep the hair long term? His answer:

Good news for anyone loving his new look. Fans can also check out Garfield and his hair in Paul Greengrass’s The Uprising coming out in September. This is perfect for those who enjoy a good period drama. Garfield plays a leader of a rebellion fighting against King Richard II’s tyranny. This will be a different role from his time as a villain in Luca Guadagnino’s The Hunt.

Though he will be reuniting with Guadagnino for a comedy-drama about AI, called Artificial, which finds him taking on the role of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. However, Marvel fans are still crossing their fingers to get him to return in an upcoming Avengers movie. But honestly, I’m most curious to see him in the limited TV series, Wild Things, where he will play Roy Horn. That’s right, as in Siegfried and Roy. He’ll be starring alongside Jude Law (as Siegfried) and the series will be available with an Apple TV subscription when it comes out.

Here’s hoping that in one of these projects we’ll see more of Garfield’s luscious locks!

It’s already been almost a month since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s MSG wedding, but more information is gradually being shared about it. The couple has yet to release any formal pictures or talk about their nuptials, but their guests have been spilling the tea. From how exhausting the invitations were to who actually attended the ceremony, so much has been divulged. Now, Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernández is opening up about running into Tom Cruise at the wedding.

Swift and Kelce’s guest list seems to be a mile long, consisting of athletes, musicians, actors, studio executives and yes, even SNL stars. Hernández seems ecstatic to have been among the lucky guests to see the Grammy winner and Super Bowl champion say “I do,” but the wedding itself wasn’t all that blew his mind. While appearing on Watch What Happens Live (as shared to Instagram), Hernández was asked by a fan what the most surprising thing he saw at the wedding was, and one particular actor got his attention:

Even though Hernández was hyped to be around so many great athletes, I can see why Cruise would stick out in his mind. Not only is he one of the biggest actors in the world, but for Hernández to be able to relate to Cruise when it comes to how they grew up must have been pretty surreal. I’m sure Hernández is not the only one who was a bit starstruck at the event, considering Swift and Kelce's invitees, and I can only imagine what his camera roll would have looked like had phones been allowed.

As of now, there aren’t any photos of Cruise attending or leaving the wedding, but Joe Buck recently recalled chatting with the Mission: Impossible star “for 20 minutes” on the Rates & Barrels podcast. Greg Olsen also admitted on his Youth Inc. podcast that Cruise complimented his hat, and the two chatted for a few minutes. It sounds like Cruise was really making the rounds, as if I couldn’t get more FOMO.

Meanwhile, even though a thousand guests turned up for the Kelce/Swift wedding, not everyone got the memo. Or at the very least, believed the memo. Some potential guests who received invitations believed them to be spam due to the fact that the initial invite was a text message. In reality, it was only the beginning of the most secure wedding invitation I had ever heard of. To that point, guests reportedly didn’t know the exact location until the day of. Celebrities may have even had to hold the 4^th of July weekend open before knowing when it would be, but it sounds like it was worth it.

Whether or not official photos will be released from the wedding of not just Swift and Kelce but their many guests remains unclear. But the concept of Marcello Hernández talking with Tom Cruise and it not being caught on camera does somewhat disappoint me. On the flip side, maybe Cruise can host Saturday Night Live later this year to promote his new movie, Digger, and perform a sketch with Hernández. One can hope.

Suri Cruise has been going by Suri Noelle for a long time; however, now she’s changed her last name officially. This marks a big moment in her relationship with her father, Tom Cruise. Meanwhile, sources are also making claims about the 20-year-old’s relationship with her mother, Katie Holmes, and her mom’s new boyfriend, Jason Bard Yarmosky.

Suri Cruise Dropped Tom Cruise’s Last Name

Public records have revealed that Suri Cruise registered to vote in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, under the name Suri Noelle in October 2024 when she was a Freshman at Carnegie Mellon University, via Page Six. Pennsylvania courts also confirmed that residents have to use their legal name to vote. However, the outlet noted she likely changed her last name before going to school, because she did not file a name change request in Allegheny County.

It’s been reported in the past that Suri does go by Suri Noelle over Suri Cruise, as there have been numerous claims over the years that she and her father are estranged. This latest update makes that change legal.

How Does Suri Feel About Katie Holmes’ New Boyfriend?

As Suri is making headlines because of her dad, there are also updates about her mom. Katie Holmes is dating Jason Bard Yarmosky, and according to Rob Shuter, sources say her daughter approves of him. Here’s what one insider alleged to Naughty But Nice:

Katie Holmes has been open about wanting to keep Suri out of the spotlight. However, the two have actually worked together, as Suri sang the opening credits for a movie Holmes did called Alone Together. Overall, it would seem they have a protective and lovely relationship, and Suri’s new last name, Noelle, is actually Holmes’ middle name.

So, the 20-year-old’s opinion of her mom’s partner carries weight. To that point, the source claimed:

The report notes that a non-negotiable Holmes has is that she won’t move forward with a relationship if her daughter (who looks just like her, by the way) does not approve. So, she apparently took things slow with Yarmosky, and then introduced him to her daughter when she knew they would be together for a long time. On that note, an insider claimed:

For context, rumors started to spread about Katie Holmes and Jason Bard Yarmosky dating earlier this month, and they made their first public appearance together on July 24, per E! News. This is major because the last public relationship she had was in 2022.

According to this insider, Holmes being in a serious relationship does rely on her daughter’s approval of her partner.

Well, it would seem all is going well between Suri Noelle, her mom, and her mom’s boyfriend. Meanwhile, she has now legally separated herself from her father by changing her last name.

As for Tom Cruise, he’s getting ready to release Digger on the 2026 movie schedule. So, he’s staying busy professionally.

Now, as we learn more about the personal and professional lives of these folks, we’ll keep you posted. But right now, it seems like Suri Cruise is happy being Suri Noelle, and she’s allegedly very happy about her mom’s new relationship.

Tom Cruise never fails to entertain audiences via his exploits on the big screen, to say the least. He's a master of stunt work, and he's known to go through the occasional character transformation. But, when the cameras are off, Cruise can relax and enjoy a hearty delicacy to snack on. The Mission: Impossible star reveals that popcorn is his most favorite snack, and it’s for the most Cruise reason a fan can imagine.

In Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Ethan Hunt is hanging onto an airplane, horrifically diving down a sunken submarine, and more. With so many adventurous maneuvers, the action star’s gotta eat, right? Just The Nobodies podcasters previously visited the Top Gun actor on the set of the final MI movie (via Instagram), where he revealed his love of popcorn. Quite frankly, I'm chuckling over why the A-lister says he's "allowed" to eat the salty snack:

Now, that's a mission that’ll never prove impossible for Cruise. I'm laughing just picturing the Ethan Hunt actor sneaking into the back of a movie theater with a big tub of high-fiber popcorn. He has great taste, though, and I like the Tropic Thunder actor's suggestion that the corn can be amped up with licorice and chocolate mix-ins. All in all, I'd say the the talented actor deserves a little treat given all that he contributes to cinemas.

Tom Cruise may be a popcorn aficionado, but he expresses it in ways that are beyond any other person. For example, the War of the Worlds actor has a unique way of chewing his favorite snack where he aggressively chucks each kernel into his mouth. To say Cruise loves this movie theater delicacy would be an understatement.

Also, Cruise finds other ways to show his love for popcorn, like throwing the snack into the mouths of his M:I co-stars or even helping design the action flick’s popcorn bucket. It proved to be a mission accomplished but, ahead of that, Cruise weighed in on disiking the initial design of replicating the movie’s Sevastopol submarine. It was instead a simpler bucket of the movie's cruciform key. So, yes, even Cruise’s favorite snack accessory needs to live up to his blockbuster expectations.

With popcorn being high-fiber, mixable, and concealable, it’s no wonder Tom Cruise reason why he loves his popped delicacy. Considering many call Cruise the "King of Movies," I think it's fitting that he munches on popcorn to his heart's content.

Feel free to watch Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning using a Paramount+ subscription. Also, don’t forget to add Cruise’s 2026 movie release, Digger to your watchlist as well, and it opens in theaters on October 2nd.

While Ethan Hunt’s time leading the Mission: Impossible movie series is probably over, I’m never getting over all the behind-the-scenes stories about the franchise. Tom Cruise has a reputation of being fearless in those movies. And Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird just shared one nerve-wracking story about the making of the 2011 fan-favorite.

Brad Bird (who also helmed The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille) had his own panel at San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H on Thursday night. During the sprawling conversation about his career that CinemaBlend was in attendance for, here’s what he recalled about making Ghost Protocol with Tom Cruise:

It’s incredibly nail-biting to watch Tom Cruise accomplish the stunts he’s done on the Mission: Impossible movies alone. But I never thought of how that might feel from a director’s point of view. As Bird communicated, being in proximity with Cruise while shooting Ghost Protocol was not for the faint of heart. Here’s what he had to say about filming the famous Burj Khalifa scene:

If you didn’t know already, Ghost Protocol was actually shot on location in the Burj Khalifa, which is the the tallest building in the world. The structure in Dubai stands 2,717 feet tall. In the scene, Ethan Hunt must scale the Burj Khalifa in order to intercept an exchange of nuclear launch codes happening on the 130th floor.

While the production originally was only going to film a few shots there, nearly the whole sequence was shot at the Burj Khalifa. And it was done for IMAX! But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stress test for Brad Bird. As he added:

The next time I’m worn over work, I’m going to think about Brad Bird. At least I’m not responsible for Tom Cruise and his stunt antics – I’m just writing about it! If you’re itching to rewatch Ghost Protocol after this story, it’s streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.

And, if you’re curious what Brad Bird is up to, he has a new animated film on the 2026 movie release schedule. It’s called Ray Gunn, and it’s a science-fiction noir movie he’s been wanting to make for 30 years. The new Brad Bird film is coming to Netflix on December 18.

Actor Tom Cruise has the reputation of advocating for a certain class of movies where what we see on screen is done for real. So of course he’s been supporting The Odyssey. The actor dropped by NYC’s Lincoln Square on opening weekend to see it himself, and had big praise for Chris Nolan, the cast and crew. But he also had thoughts on the Dune: Part Three sneak peek playing before IMAX screenings, as well.

Tom Cruise rented out a private showing of The Odyssey for himself and his team. He also apparently ended up inviting some of the employees of the AMC to join him. After an employee shared the “magical” experience, one fan had to ask them if Cruise had thoughts on the Dune: Part Three sneak peek. Here’s what reportedly happened:

In the front of IMAX screenings of The Odyssey, movie fans are treated to the prologue to Dune: Part Three, and Tom Cruise was no exception. Cruise was geeking out over the sequence that involves the Fremen getting caught in a visceral battle after feeling the rain for the first time. And apparently he even called one of the movie’s producers to congratulate them on a job well done. How cool.

Check out Cruise posing with four lucky AMC employees who got to experience the Dune 3 preview and The Odyssey with him. Talk about a treat!

Tom Cruise has certainly been vocal about his love of the Dune franchise before. He sent Chalamet “the most wonderfully inspiring email” that even included a Rolodex of experts he might need for additional stunt training. Per Chalamet’s recounting of the email to GQ, Cruise let him know that “nobody” would hold him to the Old Hollywood standard. And it was up to him to do so.

Dune: Part Three is set to round out Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy based on Frank Herbert’s books. It will follow a super unsettling Paul Atreides 17 years after the previous film. After Paul betrayed Zendaya’s Chani in Part Two and rose as the Lisan al-Gaib, it looks like the two become enemies. All the while, Robert Pattinson’s Scytale executes a plot to dethrone Paul.

It’s not only one of the most exciting upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, it could be the biggest box office weekend of the year. The movie shares a release date with Avengers: Doomsday in a movie event already calling itself Dunesday. We definitely expect Tom Cruise to be first in line after these alleged comments about Part Three.

Is Tom Cruise ready to get back in the driver's seat with a sequel to his 1990 classic Days of Thunder? It looks like the movie that has been long-rumored is getting closer to crossing the finish line. Digger might be one of my most anticipated movies on the 2026 movie schedule, but as a child of the '80s and '90s and a fan of racing movies, the idea of seeing Cruise burn up tires around the track again has me just as excited. Here's what we know about Days of Thunder 2.

Jonathan Levine Is In Talks To Direct

There have been rumblings about a Days of Thunder sequel for years. After the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick, it only made sense that Cruise would want to revisit another classic from the same era (in addition to another possible sequel). The original Top Gun and Days of Thunder have a lot of similar DNA. In addition to starring Cruise, both movies were directed by the late Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. Bruckheimer is on board to produce this sequel, as he did with Maverick, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.

The outlet is also reporting that Jonathan Levine is in negotiations to direct Days of Thunder 2. Levine's Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story starring David Corenswet is set to be released by Paramount in December (and already looks like a hit). Paramount is the company behind both Days of Thunder and Top Gun (and most of Tom Cruise's movies since the 1980s). Before Mr. Irrelevant, Levine helmed the underrated and funny Long Shot starring Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron in 2019.

Days Of Thunder Became An Instant Classic For A Generation

Though it was quite the juggernaut that Top Gun was in the 1980s, Days of Thunder was a huge hit with teenagers when it dropped the hammer in the summer of 1990. The original stars Cruise as a hot-shot young racer named Cole Trickle who joins a NASCAR team led by veteran pit crew chief Harry Hogge, played by the late Robert Duvall. Nicole Kidman plays a doctor and Trickle's love interest in the movie, and Michael Rooker plays his biggest rival on the track. It's been remarkably enduring ever since.

Speculating about further casting is a little premature, especially given the personal relationship between Cruise and Kidman. Top Gun: Maverick only brought back Val Kilmer from the original, in addition to Cruise, so this might follow suit. Still, it would be fun to see some of the other actors from the original, like Rooker, John C. Reilly, and Cary Elwes.

Given the huge worldwide success of FI: The Movie last year, it seems like a no-brainer to revisit one of the best (if not the best) movies about stock car racing ever. Meanwhile, we still have Digger to look forward to later this year, which is going to be a very different kind of movie, judging by what we know about it.

By all accounts, Tom Cruise’s next big-screen effort is unlike anything else in his 45-year career, and also looks unlike any other 2026 movie releases, standing far apart from his recent years invested in Mission: Impossible’s Ethan Hunt. The actor rarely dons extensive makeup and prosthetics for roles, but fully transformed for the role of oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, with total Les Grossman vibes all over this thing. We don’t have a new trailer yet, but we do have several new videos showing off Digger’s (digitally enhanced) skills with a soccer ball.

We’re definitely waiting to see more from Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie after that bonkers first trailer, but I am fully embracing any and all ad campaigns utilizing this character for moments that won’t be in the film. Case in point, Warner Bros. is promoting the World Cup with Digger, giving audiences that much more of this loquacious and endlessly confident personality to soak up before the movie gets here.

Check out the video below, which features both Digger Rockwell and Tom Cruise. How did they do it?!? (Amazement heightened for dramatic effect.)

I can see why this probably seemed like a good 1:1 connection to make. Digger Rockwell is described as being the most powerful man in the world, so it only makes sense that he would be promoting the most popular sport on the planet. (You’re probably not gonna catch ol’ Digger waxing poetically about the next Pillow Fight Championship event.) I guess when you’re one of the richest people of all time, you have that much more time to practice your ball-handling skills.

The video promo below is sans Cruise himself, but offers up quite a bit more fancy footwork with the ball that’s fun to watch, even if it’s abundantly clear that Digger is not actually hitting all those perfect moves himself. My brain can gloss over the somewhat unnatural way the ball balances on his head and feet, because I’m just that invested in this dude’s whole vibe.

Beyond all the excellent shots of that wonky-looking cat, I also like that we get a peek into Digger’s mindset in this one, even if it’s not the most mysterious or hidden.

Which is why the bazillionaire is the only person suited to take a self-appointed global savior role, as he attempts to thwart an all-consuming disaster that he himself was responsible for unleashing. So maybe he’s not the most likeable guy from the onset. But I’m already thinking this character deserves sequels and TV spinoffs. Assuming Tom Cruise wants to keep bringing that WTF look out.

The video below was the first one shared, preceding those above by a couple of days, and it almost seems tame in comparison.

Digger, which already got big props from Cruise’s M:I 3 director J.J. Abrams, is set to hit theaters on October 2. And it’s going to be hard for me to stop hearing the character’s slightly unnerving way of repeating “Olé” the way he does at the end of that second video.

When it comes to movies, I don't think there's a better hype man for them than Tom Cruise. Known as one of Hollywood’s champions of the theatrical experience, he consistently encourages moviegoers to get their butts in front of their local screens. Now, he’s hyping Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster epic on the 2026 movie schedule, The Odyssey.

This film is one of the most anticipated of the year, and Tom Cruise was lucky enough to screen it in Christopher Nolan’s preferred format, IMAX 70mm. An in-demand ticket that broke the internet when it went on sale, due to the limited screens and high interest, getting to see this epic on the largest screen possible and on film likely added to the Mission: Impossible star's viewing experience. So, I totally get why he was all smiles in his Instagram post about the movie:

Tom Cruise could have just posted the photo, which speaks volumes on its own. But he also used words like “wow” and “amazing” to describe his theatrical experience with The Odyssey.

Not just one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Cruise is also a longtime producer, which means he has a deep understanding of everything it takes to pull off something on the scale of The Odyssey. While praising Christopher Nolan for what the film accomplishes to his more than 15 million followers seems obvious, it was nice to see the Top Gun: Maverick star also give a shout-out to Nolan’s producing partner and wife Emma Thomas, the cast, and the crew. Every film takes a village, and a film like The Odyssey takes an entire town to pull off.

Along with getting the word out about The Odyssey and hyping the release of his own upcoming dark comedy Digger, the A Few Good Men actor has a history of going to the theater to both see and shout out movies like this. While Cruise is known as an action star, he also has a proven track record of showing up to support big releases. To prove that, here's a list of titles he’s posted about in recent years:

• Disclosure Day
• The Running Man
• F1
• Sinners
• Twisters
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Not long before he praised The Odyssey, Tom Cruise took to Instagram to gush about Disclosure Day and pen a sweet message to his Minority Report and War of the Worlds director Steven Spielberg, as well as his Edge of Tomorrow co-star Emily Blunt. He both praised their work and showed appreciation for their friendship.

Cruise also attended the London premiere of F1 last year to show his support for his Interview with the Vampire co-star, Brad Pitt, in person.

Overall, the message behind these actions is always the same – if you’ve got a big movie hitting theaters, Tom Cruise will be there to hype it up.

His latest example of that is in honor of The Odyssey, which is based on Homer’s ancient Greek poem. The story tells the tale of Odysseus’ long and dangerous journey home after the Trojan War, and the mythical beings and family drama he faces along the way. When you have a cast the caliber of Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland, among others, and you put it in the hands of a filmmaker like Nolan, movie magic happens. So, I can see why Cruise was so excited about it.

Much like the Top Gun actor, critics have been kind to The Odyssey. So, to see if the film lives up to the hype, you can catch The Odyssey in theaters now.

The 2026 movie schedule marks what might be Tom Cruise’s most ambitious performance yet. Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu are teaming up for Digger – a comedy about the world’s most powerful (and chaotic) businessman who must prevent a global disaster. Cruise really had to go through a physical transformation to play the titular Digger Rockwell, and he’s a sight to behold in the wild trailer. Funny enough, Cruise delightfully dropped an F-bomb when he first saw what had been envisioned for the character’s look.

Earlier this year, Cruise talked about playing Digger and how, in hindsight, the last 40 years of his career had been preparing him for the role. The leading man reiterated that during an event for the trailer launch, which CinemaBlend was fortunate enough to attend. Cruise said he’d “never had something that could challenge me in this way” and that it was uncharted territory for Iñárritu as well. As for the first time, Cruise got a gander at his director’s vision for Rockwell, he made a humorously bold assertion:

Honestly, that's an understandable take. As has been shown, Cruise sports prosthetics, a wig and a faux belly in order to play Rockwell, and he’s more than committing to the bit. That shouldn’t be all that surprising since this is the same actor who effortlessly portrayed the eccentric Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder. Digger definitely has shades of Grossman, especially when it comes to bravado. However, as the Top Gun icon explained, the process of landing on a character varies by project:

That level of cerebral thinking is why Cruise has done such great work over the course of his illustrious career. He understands that there are different strokes for different folks – or characters in this case. And it’s because of that approach that Lestat de Lioncourt differs from Les Grossman, who differs from Frank T.J. Mackey, who differs from Jerry Maguire. All in all, given Cruise’s approach to his latest role, fans should be in for something special.

It would seem that the Rain Man alum’s cast and crew were also taken with his work on set as well. During this year’s CinemaCon, Iñárritu praised his star’s commitment to his craft and emphasized just how big a swing he was taking with this role. Emma D’Arcy – one of Cruise’s co-stars, also praised his work, and they even said they were taking notes on set.

All signs point to Tom Cruise giving a performance that’s a true tour de force, and I’m eager to see it on the biggest screen possible. Per the footage, I’m expecting Cruise – as Rockwell – to chew some scenery and drop his fair share of F-bombs. Be sure to check out Digger when it opens on October 2.

For some time now, Tom Cruise has been teasing his next movie, Digger, a dark comedy directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Iñárritu. Some footage dropped earlier this summer and, based on that, Cruise’s titular character mirrored Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman. Well, we finally have the first official trailer for the movie, and it’s somehow even more bonkers than I imagined. There are plenty of striking images and funny quotes, but I just can’t get the image of Digger’s cat out of my head.

The trailer quickly establishes the aging Digger Rockwell as an eccentric tycoon, who enjoys a lavish lifestyle. However, he’s quickly thrown for a loop when he learns that one of his drilling projects has started an environmental chain reaction that could spell the end of life on earth. What strikes me about this footage, which can be seen above, is the sheer scale of Iñárritu’s vision. Shots of floods, aircrafts and missile launches abound, and it’s clear that this is going to be the Birdman director’s biggest film to date.

Ironically, some of this material feels like it would be fitting for an installment of Mission: Impossible, which Cruise has since stepped away from. Personally, I’d imagine Cruise and Iñárritu are fully aware of that and may even be looking to lampoon elements of such blockbusters in that regard. Aside from the spectacle, though, there also seem to be plenty of quirky character moments acted out by the film’s capable cast.

The member of the ensemble that I can’t stop looking at, though, is Digger’s cat, who’s seen better days. In fact, it’s established early on that the feline doesn’t have long to live, which upsets his master. To say that this one-eyed furry friend is quite a sight would be an understatement, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being more essential to the narrative than teased.

Aside from the cat, though, what also sticks out to me is something quite obvious – Tom Cruise really seems to be going for it with this performance. He’s chewing up all kinds of scenery here, from trying to feed his pet peanut butter in bed to using his physical endowment to illustrate his drilling work. As Cruise explained at CinemaCon earlier this year, Rockwell was a role 40 years in the making for him, and he even dropped an enthusiastic F-bomb when he saw what the character would look like.

Iñárritu, who also co-wrote the script, praised Cruise’s performance as well, opining that while he’d pulled off plenty of massive stunts on camera, this role may have been his biggest risk. Of course, the Revenant helmer also deserves credit, as this is yet another major swing for him as well. Comedy and spectacle seem to be colliding in a great way, based on this trailer, and it’s also already clear that the director and his co-writers are injecting a bit of social commentary into this environmentally and politically-tinged story.

Of course, we also have to mention the rest of the cast, which includes John Goodman (who was mildly injured amid production) playing the President of the United States. Honestly, I can’t think of a better role for the incomparable Goodman in a romp like this one. Also part of the ensemble are Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emma D’Arcy, who praised Cruise’s work.

All in all, this first trailer delivers, as it expertly establishes the tone, lays out the premise and highlights its leading man in a big way. I can’t wait to see what Tom Cruise brings to the role of Rockwell and, if this footage is any indication, there’s a chance it could be Cruise’s finest performance of this decade. He’s sure to be a scene-stealer, but I also expect that cat to delight (and somewhat unnerve) audiences as well.

Digger opens in theaters on October 2 as part of the 2026 movie schedule.

In 2018, Glen Powell got a sad call that led to some serious conversations with Tom Cruise about his role in Top Gun: Maverick. Tragically, he got that phone call the week of the Fourth of July, and it made that holiday the “worst.” Ultimately, everything worked out. And Powell’s post about this year’s Independence Day certainly proves that he’s doing fantastic.

Glen Powell Found Out He Lost The Rooster Role Right Before The Fourth Of July

At this point, it’s well-known lore that Glen Powell auditioned for Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick, but lost the role of Goose’s son to Miles Teller. What you might not know is that the Twisters actor found out about this on July 3. Recalling how that ruined his Fourth of July on The Rich Eisen Show, the actor said:

Well, that sucks. While I’m one to rewatch Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick with my Paramount+ subscription to celebrate the holiday, said movies certainly ruined it for Powell eight years ago.

However, it all turned out OK in the end, as he ended up playing Hangman in the beloved sequel. Before that happened, though, he had some important conversations with Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer. It began with a phone call from the Maverick actor, and Powell was told they still wanted him in the movie. The Chad Powers star was still on the fence, though, so he went in for a meeting. Here’s how that conversation went:

That led to Tom Cruise giving Powell some advice that really stuck with him. Recalling the conversation he had with the lead of Top Gun: Maverick, the Anyone But You star explained:

I think we’re all glad he listened too. As we all know, Powell did end up saying yes to Top Gun: Maverick, and his performance as Hangman helped his career go sky-high. Now, he’s spending his Fourth of July partying rather than mourning the loss of a role.

Glen Powell, His Loved Ones And His Girlfriend All Partied Together This Year

While the primary emotion on the Fourth of July in 2018 was sadness for Powell, 2025’s emotion seemed to be fun. The actor took to Instagram to post a photo dump about the day, calling it one “hell of a Fourth.” Take a look:

Well, this looks like an absolute rager, and one hell of a good time. It was pretty star-studded too. In the dump, Powell tagged his girlfriend Michelle Randolph (they went IG official with this post), Chord Overstreet, Jimmy Tatro, Zoey Deutch (they need to have an on-screen Set It Up reunion ASAP), Madelyn Cline, his mother, Cyndy Powell, his sisters, Lauren and Leslie and many more.

All that’s to say, I think Glen Powell had a much better Fourth of July than he did all those years ago.

However, I also bet he’s happy that sad call happened, because it's helped shape his career and life into what it is today. Since Maverick, Powell has turned into quite the leading man, starring in projects like Hit Man, Twisters, Anyone But You and Chad Powers. There’s a lot more on the way too. So, all in all, I’d say life (and the Fourth of July) was very worth celebrating the way he did this year with his loved ones.