Explained: Why Tom Cruise's 3-minute Digger trailer only has 41-second film footage
Tom Cruise's first trailer for Digger is intriguing. It hides the actor's face. Interestingly, the over-3-minute clip has 41-second footage from the film. What's the trailer trying to say?
Tom Cruise plays an eccentric billionaire in his next film, Digger. Thinning hair, flabby girth, loves cats, speaks with such a heavy Southern accent that many might just scurry to switch on the subtitles.
It takes the genius of Alejandro G. Inarritu to imagine and cast a Hollywood superstar that way, but that's what's happening in Digger. A special trailer of the film dropped on June 23, presenting Cruise in his all-new, unusual avatar, but that's not the point of this story.
The point is the trailer itself.
QUIRKY SPECIAL TRAILER OF DIGGER
It's called the Tom Cruise Retrospective Trailer, and it's unlike any trailer you've seen.
Before anything, the makers have announced they will release a more conventional trailer on July 13. Meanwhile, this special trailer avoids clearly showing Cruise's face. More interestingly, out of a runtime of 3 minutes and 11 seconds, the trailer allocates only the last 41 seconds to actual film footage from Digger.
What precedes those 41 seconds is entirely about Tom Cruise but has nothing to do with the film.
Flummoxed? Read on.
WHAT DOES SPECIAL TRAILER SHOW?
The keywords that hold a hint about the trailer's intent are Tom Cruise Retrospective.
The Digger trailer opens with actual footage from the blockbuster, Top Gun. "I feel the need for speed," declares Cruise, looking young and dapper as he did in 1986.
It's virtually an Identify-The-Tom-Cruise-Hit over the next few minutes, as some of the most memorable scenes from the actor's career unfold.
Interview with A Vampire, Days of Thunder, Magnolia, Far and Away, Rain Man, Tropic Thunder, Minority Report, Risky Business, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher, Collateral, A Few Good Men, Cocktail, War of the Worlds, Born on The Fourth of July, All the Right Moves, American Made, The Color of Money, Oblivion, Rock of Ages, Taps, Vanilla Sky, the Top Gun films, the Mission Impossible films, Austin Powers in Goldmember (yes, that famous cameo).
It's Tom Cruise's life on the Hollywood screen, played out in around 2 minutes and 31 seconds. The makers of the film couldn't have thought of a better "Thank You" note for the fans.
WHAT'S THE SPECIAL TRAILER SAYING?
"Everything you've done has come to this." The collage of his past hits in the trailer ends with that memorable line from Cruise's 2025 hit, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
The screen then cuts to announcing the name of Digger director, Academy Award Winner Alejandro G. Inarritu, as rock riffs from Dire Straits' 1985 classic Money for nothing waft in the background.
The idea is simple. Tom Cruise, one of the world's greatest screen phenomena ever who has consistently redefined stardom over the decades, is now out to give you a film that strips all notions of larger-than-life charisma you'd associate with him. Digger pitches him to Inarritu level realism. He is out to prove his acting chops.
"When all else fails, you hit them with the truth. You know, the hard truth. Just bang bang bang," drawls Cruise's Digger Rockwell, underlining the mood, looking natty as never in an embroidered maroon suit and matching cowboy hat. The screen screams CRUISE in all caps.
Quick clips from Digger follow, establishing Digger Rockwell as a flamboyant man of business. "A comedy of catastrophic proportions," the trailer declares, before making the necessary announcements: Only in theatres, experience it in IMAX. Oct. '26.
That's it – just 41 seconds of Digger after the vintage Cruise rush hits you. Trailer's over.
Tom Cruise in a film by Alejandro G. Inarritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful, Birdman, The Revenant) was always an intriguing idea. If anything, the special trailer just amped the intrigue.
Will Digger let Cruise dig deep with histrionics? We'll know on October 2, 2026, when the film is scheduled to release.
WHAT'S DIGGER THE FILM ABOUT?
Finally, a bit about Digger. The film casts Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, the most powerful man in the world who's racing to prove he is humanity's saviour before a disaster that he has unleashed destroys everything. That, broadly, is the plot outline on IMDb as of now.
We know Digger is a satire, a black comedy, and that automatically brings to mind Inarritu's earlier superb attempt in the genre, Birdman. That film salvaged Michael Keaton's career in 2014 and also fetched him Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, among a clutch of other nods across categories.
Birdman, in fact, won Oscars for Best Director (Inarritu), Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
Tom Cruise might just have jumped on the right horse this time, to go bang bang bang during the awards season.
Tom Cruise plays an eccentric billionaire in his next film, Digger. Thinning hair, flabby girth, loves cats, speaks with such a heavy Southern accent that many might just scurry to switch on the subtitles.
It takes the genius of Alejandro G. Inarritu to imagine and cast a Hollywood superstar that way, but that's what's happening in Digger. A special trailer of the film dropped on June 23, presenting Cruise in his all-new, unusual avatar, but that's not the point of this story.
The point is the trailer itself.
QUIRKY SPECIAL TRAILER OF DIGGER
It's called the Tom Cruise Retrospective Trailer, and it's unlike any trailer you've seen.
Before anything, the makers have announced they will release a more conventional trailer on July 13. Meanwhile, this special trailer avoids clearly showing Cruise's face. More interestingly, out of a runtime of 3 minutes and 11 seconds, the trailer allocates only the last 41 seconds to actual film footage from Digger.
What precedes those 41 seconds is entirely about Tom Cruise but has nothing to do with the film.
Flummoxed? Read on.
WHAT DOES SPECIAL TRAILER SHOW?
The keywords that hold a hint about the trailer's intent are Tom Cruise Retrospective.
The Digger trailer opens with actual footage from the blockbuster, Top Gun. "I feel the need for speed," declares Cruise, looking young and dapper as he did in 1986.
It's virtually an Identify-The-Tom-Cruise-Hit over the next few minutes, as some of the most memorable scenes from the actor's career unfold.
Interview with A Vampire, Days of Thunder, Magnolia, Far and Away, Rain Man, Tropic Thunder, Minority Report, Risky Business, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher, Collateral, A Few Good Men, Cocktail, War of the Worlds, Born on The Fourth of July, All the Right Moves, American Made, The Color of Money, Oblivion, Rock of Ages, Taps, Vanilla Sky, the Top Gun films, the Mission Impossible films, Austin Powers in Goldmember (yes, that famous cameo).
It's Tom Cruise's life on the Hollywood screen, played out in around 2 minutes and 31 seconds. The makers of the film couldn't have thought of a better "Thank You" note for the fans.
WHAT'S THE SPECIAL TRAILER SAYING?
"Everything you've done has come to this." The collage of his past hits in the trailer ends with that memorable line from Cruise's 2025 hit, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
The screen then cuts to announcing the name of Digger director, Academy Award Winner Alejandro G. Inarritu, as rock riffs from Dire Straits' 1985 classic Money for nothing waft in the background.
The idea is simple. Tom Cruise, one of the world's greatest screen phenomena ever who has consistently redefined stardom over the decades, is now out to give you a film that strips all notions of larger-than-life charisma you'd associate with him. Digger pitches him to Inarritu level realism. He is out to prove his acting chops.
"When all else fails, you hit them with the truth. You know, the hard truth. Just bang bang bang," drawls Cruise's Digger Rockwell, underlining the mood, looking natty as never in an embroidered maroon suit and matching cowboy hat. The screen screams CRUISE in all caps.
Quick clips from Digger follow, establishing Digger Rockwell as a flamboyant man of business. "A comedy of catastrophic proportions," the trailer declares, before making the necessary announcements: Only in theatres, experience it in IMAX. Oct. '26.
That's it – just 41 seconds of Digger after the vintage Cruise rush hits you. Trailer's over.
Tom Cruise in a film by Alejandro G. Inarritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful, Birdman, The Revenant) was always an intriguing idea. If anything, the special trailer just amped the intrigue.
Will Digger let Cruise dig deep with histrionics? We'll know on October 2, 2026, when the film is scheduled to release.
WHAT'S DIGGER THE FILM ABOUT?
Finally, a bit about Digger. The film casts Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, the most powerful man in the world who's racing to prove he is humanity's saviour before a disaster that he has unleashed destroys everything. That, broadly, is the plot outline on IMDb as of now.
We know Digger is a satire, a black comedy, and that automatically brings to mind Inarritu's earlier superb attempt in the genre, Birdman. That film salvaged Michael Keaton's career in 2014 and also fetched him Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, among a clutch of other nods across categories.
Birdman, in fact, won Oscars for Best Director (Inarritu), Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
Tom Cruise might just have jumped on the right horse this time, to go bang bang bang during the awards season.
