Filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger has been in the works for nearly a decade. The filmmaker first began developing the story with Mexican writer Sabina Berman in 2017, but as events in the real world began to move in unexpected directions, the script kept changing. The film eventually took a different shape altogether, with Iñárritu turning to a dramatic format to tell the story. [SPOILERS AHEAD].
How did the story begin?
Alejandro and Sabina started writing Digger in 2017. According to the filmmaker, developing a story so closely tied to the present became increasingly difficult as actual events kept changing the context surrounding the script.
The film stars Tom Cruise in the lead role of Digger Rockwell, but that’s not the only character he plays. Tom also plays the role of Curtis, an actor, father, husband and artist who plays Digger.
Talking about the film’s long development, Alejandro explains, “The film began 10 years ago with Sabina Berman and I wrote the screenplay in 2017. The strange thing about developing a narrative that exists in the present is that reality is overtaking the fictional version of it. Reality, every day for the last nine years, has been overtaking the imagination, leaving us behind, forcing us to adjust, making us feel That the ground beneath our feet, like the permafrost, was about to collapse. We learned that reality gives us events, but it is the imagination that allows us to recognize ourselves in them. This film began somewhere.
The changing storyline eventually led Iñárritu to reconsider how Digger should be presented. He said he found the answer while hiking with his family during his 60th birthday celebration. He adds, “I was hiking with my family, celebrating my 60th birthday, and that’s where this idea came to me – I thought I’d found the only way to do it: the idea of a theater play in the Brechtian way. It was the best birthday present ever!”
In an interview with HT City, he also said, “Reality is represented in the film in such a way that we can completely separate ourselves and look at ourselves and laugh at ourselves to find a common ground about a very complex thing. It has to do with how we tell our story and how we have to work on something like this without fighting each other.”
tom cruise leads the cast
Tom stars alongside Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Huller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons. Robert John Burke, Emma D’Arcy, Bernie Gorman and Sophie Wilde are also part of the cast.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu directed Digger and wrote the screenplay with Oscar winners Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone and Sabina Berman. The story is about Iñárritu and Berman.
The film is produced by Alejandro, Mary Parent, Tom Cruise and Michael Sharp. Joshua Grode, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicholas Giacobone, Jez Butterworth and Emmanuel Lubezki serve as executive producers.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu reunites with longtime colleagues
Emmanuel Lubezki serves as director of photography, while Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirion are editors. Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West, Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi and Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Meisler are also part of the team. Dennis Gassner and Richard Johnson serve as production designers, with Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazuya Hiro and composer Cosmo Sheldrake also joining the film.
Digger was shot entirely in VistaVision and is intended for theatrical release. The film, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, will hit theaters and IMAX across India on October 2, 2026.