The 2026 movie schedule has marked the releases of plenty of high-profile titles, but it could be argued that few have sparked as many discussions as Digger has. Directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the Tom Cruise-fronted film mixes satire with a significant helping of social commentary to create a bold swing. Early reactions to Cruise and Iñárritu’s film were tepid, and it eventually flopped at the box office as well. Now, one of the film’s cast members, John Goodman, is opening up about the film being “killed” before it could even reach theaters.
Digger was released in early October, and the first reactions began to hit social media after its UK premiere in late October. Goodman sat down for an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, which was recorded on October 5th (right after the movie’s opening weekend). Both Goodman and host Josh Horowitz got real about the reception to the Iñárritu flick, with Horowitz emphasizing how the film really has people “talking.” The Argo alum didn’t disagree but also got candid about how the reception was affecting him:
People are talking…. Yeah, it hurt. They kind of killed us before we opened. ‘This will only make $5,’ and it's a good reason for people to avoid it.
Digger heavily focuses on the story of oil tycoon Digger Rockwell (Cruise), who finds himself in the position of having to save the planet from an environmental catastrophe he caused. Ultimately, it’s a comedy of errors that has a lot to say about the state of the world, particularly our feelings towards climate change. There’s also a big twist in the film, which is so massive that I’m still not keen on spoiling it for readers here.
Ultimately, the full reviews of the black comedy weren’t strong, and they earned Cruise his worst Rotten Tomatoes score for a film in nearly a decade. (As of this writing, the film has a critics rating of 53% on RT and an audience rating of 77%.) The reception actually became so hard to ignore that the marketing team even addressed the polarizing reviews head on in a TV spot. From a financial perspective, the film has reportedly earned $49 million worldwide against a reported production budget between $125 and $180 million.
With all that said, Digger does have its share of defenders, with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro emerging as a champion for it along with the likes of Ben Affleck, Anna Hathaway, Glen Powell and Bill Burr. Tom Cruise himself has also expressed his appreciation for the cast and crew amid the tepid responses. Likewise, John Goodman – who broke his hip amid production – feels fortunate to have been a part of the massive movie:
I'm proud of it, and I had a ball doing it. It was a good six months out of my life. It is a huge swing…. It’s gonna be around for a long time.
To that point, there are indeed films that prove to have staying power if they’re initially polarizing or not well received upon their releases. Goodman even made a good point in that a number of his collaborations with the Coen brothers initially generated lukewarm receptions before finding major followings later. (And, believe it or not, that includes The Big Lebowski.) So, while Goodman may have been “hurt” by responses to his latest movie, he’s still of the belief that it’ll have quite the shelf life.
Digger is still playing in some theaters, meaning anyone who wants to see it for themselves still has the time to do so.
