It’s Officially the End of an Era for Tom Cruise

Digger is finally here. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise‘s latest motion picture might not dominate next year’s Oscars as we all thought. Reviews are in, and they imply we’re now in stormy waters. The satirical black comedy has a disappointing 52% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It marks the end of an era for Cruise, who has been on a nine-year streak of starring in critically acclaimed movies.

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Digger stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a wealthy oil tycoon whose multinational company causes a potentially world-ending disaster in Greenland. The movie premiered in London on Sept. 22, 2026, and is scheduled for a wider theatrical release in the United Kingdom and United States on Oct. 2, 2026. The cast also includes Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

‘Digger’ is Tom Cruise’s First “Rotten” Movie Since ‘The Mummy’

Released in 2017, The Mummy was the last Tom Cruise movie that critics didn’t love. Intended to kick-start the Dark Universe, a shared fictional universe based on the classic Universal Monsters films, the horror action thriller has a shocking 15% Rotten Tomatoes score. That resulted in the cancellation of the shared universe. After that, Cruise went on a nine-year “fresh” streak (his longest streak of critically acclaimed movies).

Cruise’s great run began with American Made, a biographical film about former TWA pilot Barry Seal, who became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s and turned DEA informant to avoid jail time. Its 85% score was quickly topped by Mission: Impossible — Fallout, which earned Cruise a career-high 98% score. Today, it’s still widely considered the best Mission Impossible movie.

The celebrated actor soared in the skies when he starred in the action thriller movie Top Gun: Maverick, a legacy sequel that not only impressed critics (96%) but also killed the COVID pandemic-era “cinema is dead” theory with an impressive $1.5 billion worldwide gross. That RT score was matched by Cruise’s next Mission: Impossible installment, Dead Reckoning: Part One. Even though Barbie and Oppenheimer outgrossed the movie at the box office, it’s an undisputed masterpiece. Then there is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Its 80% score was low for an Ethan Hunt adventure but better than most spy movies.

Cruise and his team will be disappointed by the reviews for Digger, considering the project was overseen by one of the best directors. It’s also a disappointing start to the actor’s Warner Bros. era. According to Variety, in 2024, the actor signed a non-exclusive strategic partnership deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to develop, produce, and star in original and franchise theatrical movies. Hopefully, his next project turns out better.

Tom Cruise’s “Experiments” Rarely Work as Well as Intended

The Tom Cruise brand often promises the intense, the extraordinary, and the brutal. For most of his career, he has been known for starring in high-octane movies that are heavy on action and thriller elements. Whenever he plays against that in a musical, comedy, or political drama, critics often view the experiment with skepticism and pick it apart. Unsurprisingly, movies like Rock of Ages and Vanilla Sky have low critics’ scores.

Maybe Cruise should stick to the stunt-heavy movies we have always known him for. For some actors, that might be a challenge, as these roles require them to run like a marathoner in a final action sequence or hang off the wings of planes. However, he won’t have to push himself as much physically in some upcoming movies. A Days of Thunder sequel is on the way, and he’ll be in the driver’s seat for most of it. We’ve also been promised a third Top Gun movie, so we’re guaranteed to see more of what Cruise is known for.

Cruise could also star in more tension-packed movies like A Few Good Men, Born on the Fourth of July, and Valkyrie. With Digger, he tried to recreate the comedic magic he showcased for a few minutes in Tropic Thunder, but he went a bit too off-brand. As a Texas oil baron under pounds of makeup and thinning, disheveled white hair, he is unrecognizable and unlikely to appeal to casual moviegoers this time around. His cartoonish performance should earn him a few accolades, but that might be it. Given the mixed reviews, it’ll be hard for the movie to recoup its $125 million budget and make a real profit, but anything is possible in Hollywood.