Tom Cruise has played spies, pilots, vampires, racecar drivers and approximately 47 variations of a man who really needs to save the world before lunch. But Digger may be his strangest assignment yet.
Directed by four-time Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the upcoming dark comedy stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil billionaire who finds himself trying to save humanity from an ecological catastrophe apparently connected to his own empire. The movie arrives in theaters October 2, 2026.
But here’s the obscure detail movie obsessives may appreciate: Digger was filmed entirely in VistaVision.
That’s not simply Hollywood jargon for “the picture looks expensive.” VistaVision is a large-format photographic process that uses a larger area of 35mm film, offering filmmakers greater image detail. Iñárritu’s decision makes even more sense considering his longtime collaboration with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who returns for the film.
Even stranger? The movie was secretly filmed under the working title “Judy.” Why Judy? That remains one of those deliciously unexplained Hollywood mysteries that makes the production history almost as entertaining as the movie itself.
And Cruise’s transformation is no small feat. The actor appears with a substantial prosthetic stomach, altered hair and makeup to become the wildly eccentric Rockwell. The makeup process reportedly became a production unto itself, with Cruise helping streamline preparation that initially took hours.
Then came the internet’s favorite theory: Digger was secretly a musical.
It isn’t. The bizarre trailers simply looked theatrical enough to send the internet detective squad into overdrive. Even Cruise played along when asked about the theory.
So, no secret musical.
Just Tom Cruise, Iñárritu, an oil billionaire, an ecological disaster—and a movie secretly called Judy.
Honestly, that’s weird enough.
