Tom Cruise Welcomes Prince William and Kate Middleton at ‘Digger’ World Premiere in London: ‘We Love Them and Really Appreciate What They Do for the Arts’

Tom Cruise world premiered his new film “Digger” on Tuesday night to an enthusiastic audience in London that included some royal guests.

Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales got a front row seat to Cruise’s latest transformative role, this time as wealthy oil tycoon Digger Rockwell in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s satirical black comedy. “Digger’s” world premiere also doubled as a Royal Film Performance, an event held by The Film and TV Charity that is attended by members of the U.K. royal family with its proceeds donated to charity.

In a speech before the start of the film, Cruise thanked William and Kate for being there. “We want to thank the royal highnesses for supporting this event, and just to tell them that we love them and we really appreciate what they do for the arts, for this country and for the world,” he began.

Cruise also thanked the Film and TV Charity and then turned his attention to producer Mary Parent — whom he called “absolutely brilliant” — and, of course, his director.

“Alejandro,” Cruise began. “You are one of one, and I have so admired your films from the very first one. And to have the opportunity to work with you has been one of the great dreams of mine and a pleasure.”

He continued, “You’ll see — this character, what he’s created, I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know, his mind is just extraordinary.”

“Digger” follows Cruise’s titular character — the “most powerful man in the world,” according to the film’s synopsis — as he “races to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything.” Alongside Cruise, the film stars Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.

Cruise has been making the promotional rounds for the film over the past few weeks, appearing on the cover of GQ, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast (notably after watching the Kansas City Chiefs’ first game of the season next to Taylor Swift).

He also gave an intimate talk at London’s BAFTA headquarters on Monday night, delivering an impassioned monologue on why he believes human skill and craftsmanship will always prevail over AI.

“You know, it is coming and it’s going to happen,” Cruise said of AI. “But people want to see real things.”

He added, “People want that experience. They’re going to movie theaters. I always believe in humanity.”

“Digger” opens in theaters on Oct. 2 from Warner Bros. Pictures.