Guillermo del Toro Officially Calls Out “Petty” Criticism of Tom Cruise’s New Movie

Tom Cruise is trading impossible missions for a catastrophe of his own making. His latest movie, Digger, pairs him with Alejandro G. Iñárritu for a comedy about a powerful man trying to convince the world he can save it from the disaster he unleashed. It’s a premise that gives the actor plenty of room to cause trouble, with Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons joining him for the fallout.

The movie is also arriving with an argument about whether audiences should make the trip to see it amidst its divisive reviews, though Collider's Victoria Luxford felt the movie was "Hilarious, infuriating, confusing, but always powerful." Now, one of cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers has weighed in, and he has some strong feelings about encouraging viewers to wait for streaming.

Guillermo del Toro has called out IGN’s Digger review headline as “Entirely Petty,” while throwing his support behind Cruise and Iñárritu’s movie. The wording that drew his response argued that seeing the movie in theaters wouldn’t change viewers’ minds and that its laughs would remain available when it arrives on HBO Max. Del Toro’s objection came with an enthusiastic endorsement of the movie's ambition and a pointed defense of experiencing it on a theatrical screen. “Entirely Petty headline. Love it or not. And, yes, I do,” del Toro wrote.

“The film delivers in scale, ambition and reach at a theatrical screen level. Daring, bold and Cinematically complex. Decidedly a Theatrical experience.”

Guillermo del Toro Says ‘Digger’ Deserves the Big Screen

The disagreement centers on whether the theatrical presentation is enough to recommend a movie that might otherwise leave a viewer unconvinced. IGN critic Michael Calabro gave Digger a 6 out of 10, praising its performances and some of its comedy while finding its satire less effective. The review also recognized the theater as the best place to experience the artists’ work, but ultimately advised skeptical viewers to save their money. Del Toro puts considerably more weight on that presentation, singling out the scale and cinematic complexity as reasons to see it theatrically. His endorsement gives audiences another perspective to consider before deciding whether to buy a ticket. It also comes as Warner Bros. is making disagreement part of the pitch, using contrasting reactions in its advertising to encourage viewers to reach their own conclusions.

There’s a concrete reason the conversation keeps returning to the screen itself. Digger was shot entirely in VistaVision, with Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki behind the camera, and will receive a theatrical and IMAX release. Whether its comedy connects will be up to each viewer, but del Toro has firmly backed the ambition of what Iñárritu and his collaborators have put on that screen.

Digger opens in theaters and IMAX on October 2, 2026.