Tom Cruise trading impossible missions for disaster of his own making. His last film, diggerjoin him Alejandro G. Iñárritu for a comedy about a powerful man who tries to convince the world that he can save it from the disaster he unleashed. It’s a concept that gives the actor plenty of room to cause troublewith Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons with him for the fall.
The film also comes with an argument about whether audiences should make the trip to see it amid its divided reviews, however. Victoria Luxford of Collider felt the film was “Lovely, sad, confusing, but always powerful.” Now, one of cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers has weighed in, and he has strong feelings about encouraging viewers to wait to stream.
Guillermo del Toro has called out IGNs digger Review the headline as “Entirely Petty,” as he throws his support behind Cruise and Iñárritu’s film. The wording that drew his response argued that the film in theaters would not change the mind of the viewers and that his laugh would still be available when it arrives on HBO Max. Del Toro’s protest came with enthusiastic support for the film’s ambition and a strong defense against seeing it on a theater screen. “Totally titled Petty. Love it or not. And, yes, I am,” del Toro wrote.
“The film delivers in scale, ambition and theatrical screen-level reach. Bold, daring and cinematically complex. Undoubtedly a theatrical experience.”
Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Who Crime master Would you have the Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh
Four of the best criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide who will come for you, why they chose you, and what they would want when they arrive.
🍷Lecturer
🃏Joker
♟️Moriarty
🪙Chigurh
01
What would a criminal mastermind say about you first? Bad villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.
02
How do they make the first connection? The introduction tells you everything about what’s to come.
03
What do you really believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about what you believe most.
04
What finally gets under your skin? Everyone has a pressure point. Your discovery is the whole plan.
05
They have made the move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the movie where the audience finds out who you are.
06
What would they use against you? A good villain won’t bring in a weapon you haven’t already given them.
07
What do they really want from you? Money is never a factor. There is always something else.
08
How will it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that will decide who comes for you.
The case file is complete You have your Nemesis…
Four criminal masters. One of them was always going to be yours. Here’s who’s coming for you, why they chose you out of everyone available, and what they want from the meeting.
The Silence of the Lambs · Hannibal · 1991–2002
Hannibal Lecter
Your nemesis doesn’t want to beat you. He wants to know you completely, and is patient enough to wait for him. The scary part is how good the dialogue is.
Lecter is the most dangerous type of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He never raised his voice, because he never needed to.
You keep a lot to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That refuge is just the door he would put on.
The films understood something that other thrillers missed. Violence is not the horror. It is perfectly understood by the wrong person.
He would be polite of course about all that. That’s the worst part.
Batman · The Dark Knight · 1989–2019
The Joker
Your nemesis is not after money, landor revenge. He’s after a show, and you’re the person he’s chosen to prove his point.
The Joker only chooses opponents who believe in something. Your kindness is no protection against him. This is the whole reason he appeared.
It doesn’t have a plan that you can predict and you can’t remove anything, which removes all the tools you would normally reach for.
His whole argument is that you’re one bad day away from being a person, and you’d spend the rest of your life proving it wrong.
He called it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Sherlock Holmes · The Final Problem · From 1893
Moriarty
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you figure out what it means. He chose you because no one else was worth his time.
Moriarty is the original criminal mind, the template that everyone later borrows from: a mind that is the same as the hero’s mind, pointing out the wrong way.
You like to be the smartest person in the room. He is counting on that, and he has already built the room.
This is the rare nemesis that would be extremely disappointing if you lost badly. He has to play the game to deserve it.
It ends the way these things always end. Two, one problem, and only one way down.
No Country for Old Men · 2007
Anton Chigurh
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you, and that is exactly what makes him unstoppable. You are not a competitor. You are a stop on the way.
Chigure does not negotiate, shout or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
You trust yourself to handle things. He is the only problem in the world that is not interested in your potential.
No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by taking away what audiences silently rely on: the sense that talking could work.
Call it. He will stay.
Guillermo del Toro says ‘Digger’ deserves the Big Screen
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
The disagreement is based on whether the theatrical presentation is enough to recommend a film that may leave a viewer unsure. IGN critic Michael Calabro provided digger a 6 out of 10praising his performances and some of her comedy and finding satire less effective. The review also recognized that the theater was the best place to experience the artists’ work, but ultimately advised skeptical viewers to save their money. Del Toro puts much more emphasis on that show, citing its scale and cinematic complexity as reasons to see it in a theater.. His support gives audiences another perspective to consider before deciding whether to buy a ticket. It also comes when Warner Bros.
There is a specific reason that the dialog returns to the screen itself. digger shot entirely in VistaVision, with Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki behind the cameraand will receive a theatrical and IMAX release. Whether the comedy connects depends on each viewer, but del Toro has strongly supported the desire that Iñárritu and his colleagues have put on that screen.
digger opens in theaters and IMAX on October 2, 2026.
Release date
October 2, 2026
Running time
128 minutes
Director
Alejandro Gonzalez in order
Writers
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone
Producers
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Michael Sharp, Tom Cruise
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