How It Began
To celebrate the trailer release for the new film DIGGER, Warner Brothers invited members of the press to a special Trailer sneak peek event to not only be one of the first group of people to see the Trailer but we were joined by the films star, Tom Cruise. We watched the trailer, twice, experienced an incredible Q&A and oh yeah, met the man himself.
A Journey Forty Years In The Making
During the Trailer event, we were treated to an incredible Q&A session with Tom moderated by creator/journalist Kevin McCarthy and since Director Alejandro González Iñárritu was still in post production on the film, he sent us a little intro to tell us the journey of bringing DIGGER to screen.
Iñárritu said, “You are about to meet the most charismatic catastrophe you have ever seen. It was just after The Revenant, when I had an idea, not script, not a film, just a relentless recurring
obsession, that has endured through all these wild years. I knew who this character was”. “I knew how he spoke, how he survived, how he seduced reality into agreeing with him. But it took me 10
years to do this film, because I wasn’t looking for a story. I was looking for the right way of saying it”.
He went on to say that picking Cruise to play was DIGGER what felt natural. “People often ask me why I chose Tom to play Digger. To me, that’s like asking somebody why you drink
water when you are thirsty? Because it’s what you need”. “The film needed Tom. We wanted to work together since the beginning of the century. I admired him as
an actor for years, and that wasn’t a surprise for me. The surprise was discovering that the human being
behind the actor was just as extraordinary as the performances I will see throughout his career”.
Tom told him “Alejandro, it took me 40 years to become this
character,” . An entire career of incredible performances led him to this moment.
VistaVision Was The Only Way To Film DIGGER.
He shot the film on VistaVision because ” Cinema deserves scale”. He used a 1954 camera and for the first time ever Alejandro and Chivo (Emmanuel Lubezki his long time cinematographer) were allowed to mount on new crazy wide vintage Leica lenses designed specifically for the film. One of the best tidbits that Tom actually gave us was that the camera they used was the same one that was used for his 1992 film Far and Away.
Cruise added, “Just loading a camera in VistaVision, the sound of that film going through, I was like, “Just everyone
quiet for a second. Let’s just hear it going through.” It’s a beautiful thing. I love it”.
A True Film Buff
Tom was a huge fan of Iñárritu ever since he saw the brilliant film Amores Perros. He knew this wasn’t just any ordinary film maker and that one day he wanted to work with him. The thing that drew Tom the most was Alejandro’s level of detail. And he looked forward to everything Alejandro was working on. Cruise said, “What’s he doing next? What’s he doing next?” And he’s just a beautiful
human being and a very gifted artist. Everything that he’s doing, it’s a discovery, and it’s surprising. He
came to me with this project, Digger, which he’d been working on for a couple of years by then. And he
came to me, I guess now seven years ago, something like that, as he was developing, working on it, and
then we just worked on it together.
Cruise went on to add, “I think when you see Digger, just the level of detail, the skill, the layers of making this film… He’s never
made something like this before, nor have I”.
Now I always knew that Tom was a huge film buff, but I really had no idea how much he truly loved the art of filmmaking. How important the ins and outs of making a film are to him. One of the most incredible things that he said was about his process of choosing his projects. He invites the Director of films over to where he’s staying and has them read the scripts to him. He wants to see the passion the film makers have and in that process decides if the project is a fit. Cruise said, “Alejandro took several days during which he was just reading the script to me and I’m listening to
everything that’s in his mind, so that I can understand that, and then I know how to contribute to it, and
bring that collaboration together. And to be there with Alejandro, it was beautiful.
Creating A Character Like No Other.
Creating a truly original character like Digger Rockwell was the most challenging in Cruise’s career. “I have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we
went in. And when you see this film, it’s totally original.
“You really have to understand the tools, it’s not one size fits all. You have to find the communication, the
lenses, the color of the makeup. The level of detail of making a film like this is… Color of the cowboy
boots. What are my shorts like? The sets, the color of the sets. They’re beautiful on every single level,
and it’s all very… You look at the taste of this man. It’s very special”.
A Lifelong Journey Of Learning.
Cruise made it clear throughout the Q&A that his career led to this character and this film. He’s constantly learning and honestly he can’t get enough of it. He added, Everyone has a different point of view of life, their own experience, and it’s a lifelong journey of
learning. I’ve never felt like, “I’m there. I’m there.” You’re never there. It’s always the next dream, the
love of this art form and the passion, it’s all encompassing.
He ended with this, That’s the beauty of this art form, everyone has the things they like and their own taste and what
works and what doesn’t work. I tell people, learn these skills and go off and communicate your own
stories. You don’t have to do it like I do. Do your thing.
Watch the new trailer below
DIGGER Official Synopsis
Shot entirely in VistaVision, DIGGER tells the tale of the most powerful man in the world as he embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.
Tom Cruise stars in the title role as Digger Rockwell, alongside Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu directs from a screenplay by Iñárritu and Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Cruise and Michael Sharp produced the film, with Joshua Grode serving as executive producer.
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