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.
For me, Digger, I play with a much, much bigger ball, and I don’t play just to win. I play to dominate.
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.
