Tom Cruise's Digger Rotten Tomatoes Score Officially Breaks Star's 9-Year Streak

This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

Tom Cruise's Digger may have dug its own grave.

After decades of playing Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Cruise takes a break from action and stunts and shifts to drama and satire with the new movie, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The Top Gun star portrays the world's most powerful man, who becomes humanity's last hope before a disaster strikes. With plenty of Oscar buzz for Cruise's performance, the first reviews are finally in, but they are underwhelming.

With 50 reviews, Digger debuts a polarizing 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cruise's first certified "rotten" movie in nine years. The last time one of his features scored below 60% was the 2017 reboot of The Mummy, which earned a disappointing 15%. Since then, Cruise's career has flourished with critically acclaimed projects, including three Mission: Impossible installments, Top Gun: Maverick, and American Made. Additionally, Digger is currently Iñárritu's lowest-rated directorial movie and his first to earn a rotten designation.

In ScreenRant's review of Digger, Brandon Zackary concluded that the new comedy "speaks to the current world and its politics, all while delivering a timeless retrospection on the responsibility of art and the harrowing realities of a changing world." However, it's a "tricky film to talk about, thanks largely to a solid twist that occurs towards the end of the first act that recontextualizes the plot without undercutting the comedic tension within it."

Meanwhile, Cruise's performance is "electric," "commanding the room in showy flashes of comedically over-the-top hubris while also finding little moments of humanity once the reveal comes into play." Although Digger is a "bold ambition," it earned an 8 out of 10 stars, with the cast and Iñárritu's direction overcoming the narrative risks.

Despite the hefty $125 million budget, projections indicate an opening debut of $19 million to $30 million, as the comedy faces off against the new Colleen Hoover adaptation, Verity.

Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons round out the supporting cast. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman worked on the script. The director and Cruise are producers with Mary Parent.

Digger will be released in theaters on October 2, 2026.