Tom Cruise’s Digger Runtime & Whether It’s One Of His Longest Revealed

Tom Cruise’s new movie Digger is not as long as expected.

The iconic Mission: Impossible star will portray the titular character in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s black comedy, in which a powerful man tries to save humanity from an environmental catastrophe. Digger is the first movie in the strategic, non-exclusive partnership between Warner Bros. and Cruise to develop original and franchise movies. Ahead of its release, a report circulated that the upcoming black comedy would be Cruise’s third-longest movie with a runtime of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

However, ScreenRant confirmed with Warner Bros. that Digger‘s official runtime is 2 hours and 8 minutes, which is 32 minutes shorter than what was initially reported. While the movie’s duration is far from being one of Cruise’s longest, it’s actually his shortest project in the last eight years. For comparison, Digger is two minutes shorter than Top Gun: Maverick (130 minutes), but longer than The Mummy (110 minutes) and American Made (115 minutes).

To date, the actor’s longest movie ever is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, which clocked at 3 hours and 8 minutes and earned Cruise an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning followed at 2 hours and 50 minutes.

Digger marks Cruise’s first non-action project in over a decade, as he starred in multiple Mission: Impossible movies, Top Gun: Maverick, and Jack Reacher. However, during that time, he built a reputation and advocacy for performing his own stunts and emphasizing practical effects over CGI. For instance, the Top Gun sequel earned publicity for using real G-Force inside Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets and became a gold standard for intense stunt work.

Meanwhile, Cruise’s upcoming comedy is highly profiled due to its strong award potential, satirical comparison to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, and a creative pivot from the action genre. Following a short teaser in December last year, the full trailer was dropped in mid-July, revealing the actor’s stunning look at the titular protagonist, Digger Rockwell. He also reprised the role for a few World Cup promos.

While Digger would be Cruise’s 50th movie, he has no projects lined up after the comedy’s release. However, the respected actor could be returning to action fairly soon, with Top Gun 3 currently in development, as the script is still in progress.

Cruise, who is one of the producers, is joined by a star-studded cast of Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. Iñárritu also wrote the script with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman.

Digger will release in theaters on October 2, 2026.

Release Date

October 2, 2026

Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writers

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris