Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Iñárritu's climate satire 'Digger' flops at box office despite critical attention

Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film 'Digger,' starring Tom Cruise as a caricatured oil billionaire, is reportedly on pace to become one of the biggest box-office failures in history despite its high budget. The film uses a play-within-a-movie structure, revealing that its broad satire of an oilman and a Trump-like administration's climate response is actually a theatrical reenactment of past events.

wired.com · 2026-10-13

Iñárritu's 'Digger' underperforms at box office despite Cruise-led satire

Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film 'Digger', starring Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon responsible for a catastrophic iceberg break, opened to weak box office numbers. The film is structured as a satirical play within the film, revealing partway through that Cruise's character is actually an actor named Curtis Markson portraying the oil baron Digger Rockwell in a production about the climate crisis. The cast includes John Goodman, Sophie Wilde and Jesse Plemons.

wired.com · 2026-10-07