Following Tom Cruise and director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s appearance at CinemaCon, it seems like Warner Bros. is planning a different release plan for Digger to ensure the highly anticipated movie’s critical and commercial success. Cruise’s black comedy film is currently slated to arrive in theaters on October 2, 2026.
Why Digger won’t make the same mistake as Mission Impossible 8 & Joker 2?
According to Deadline, Warner Bros. Pictures is unlikely to set the world premiere of Digger at any of the fall festivals this year, including the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, despite recent speculation. This is surprising given that most of Iñárritu’s popular movies debuted at major film festivals, such as 2022’s Bardo at Venice. However, it’s worth noting that one of the acclaimed Mexican filmmaker’s most critically and commercially successful movies, 2015’s The Revenant, wasn’t released at any festival.
If Digger doesn’t debut at a fall festival, it would likely help Warner Bros. avoid making the same mistake they made with Joker 2. Terrible reviews at the 2024 Venice Film Festival premiere of the Joaquin Phoenix-led DC sequel significantly affected the movie’s box office performance. Because of the negative early reception, the movie grossed only about $208 million, a stark contrast to the first installment’s $1 billion gross.
Another example of festival reviews affecting a film’s box office results was with Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which was first screened at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. After receiving disappointing reviews at its Cannes premiere, Mission: Impossible 8 had an underwhelming box office performance, grossing only $598 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $300-400 million.
Iñárritu directed Digger from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolás Giacobone. This marks the acclaimed filmmaker’s next English-language feature after 2015’s The Revenant. Joining Cruise in the film are Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, Riz Ahmed, Emma D’Arcy, and more. It is produced by Cruise and Iñárritu.
(Source: Deadline)
