Warner Bros has just dropped the first trailer for the Tom Cruise starring, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger, and, well, buckle up.

Ala Cruise’s major studio boss Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, he transforms into another kind of opposite once again: a Southern talking, older potbelly oil baron who may have set off a massive global ecological disaster. His name, Digger Rockwell. He’s the only guy who can fix it, and he’s ordered by the standing U.S. President (John Goodman) to help (a Leader of the Free World who is both a combo of Trump and Joe Biden; the latter evident in Goodman’s POTUS falling asleep at the wrong time).

From the looks of this, it’s Doctor Strangelove for the Trump era, or as Iñárritu said in a video introduction reel last Thursday at Warner Bros, “Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself, because Mother Nature loves motherf*ckers.”

Also in attendance last Thursday was the actor who constantly as the need for speed, Cruise.

The 4x Oscar winning filmmaker added, that he began conceiving Digger, “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.”

“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.”

“The transformation he went through was astonishing,” added Iñárritu’, with Cruise telling him “It took me 40 years to become this character.”

Cruise was a longtime fan of the director’s breakout film, Amores Perros, and when he was pitched Digger Rockwell, the Risky Business star said, “Alejandro, he shows me, he’s like, ‘I want you to look like this.’ And it wasn’t like he said, ‘This is the kind of character.’ So, I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s got fucking balls,’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t wait. Let’s go.’”

Expounding more on his process, Cruise said, “Whether it’s Les Grossman or Interview With the Vampire, Collateral or Risky Business, I’m always asking, ‘How do I communicate this?’ The physicality, the makeup, that is stuff that you find as you are learning how to communicate.”

He added, “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.”

Digger was shot in VistaVision, and for the production, Iñárritu rvteams with his Oscar winning The Revenant DP Emmanuel Lubezki.

Cruise exclaimed at the event, “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.”

Digger hits theaters on Oct. 2.

Venice has picked the juries for its main sidebar Orizzonti (Horizions) and for its best first feature honor.

French director Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts, Marguerite & Julien) will chair the Orizzonti jury, overseeing a five-person group that will include Criterion Collection/ Janus Films president Peter Becker; U.S./Hong Kong director Elizabeth Lo (Mistress Dispeller), Mexican filmmaker David Pablos (On the Road), and Italian actress Barbara Ronchi (Familia).

The Italian filmmaker Carolina Cavalli (Fremont, Amanda) will head up the jury for best first feature, the Luigi De Laurentiis “Lion of the Future” honor. Joining her are the Bafta-winning British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. (My Father’s Shadow) and veteran U.S. producer Ted Hope (The Ice Storm, American Splendor).

An actress turned director, Donzelli premiered her first feature The Queen of Hearts (2009), in Locarno. Her follow-up, Declaration of War (2011), opened Cannes’ Critics’ Week. Marguerite & Julien (2015), her first feature, screening in Cannes’ main competition. Her lastest feature, At Work (2025), premiered in Venice competition last year, where it won the best screenplay award.

Cavalli’s debut Amanda (2022), screened in the Venice’s Orizzonti Extra section, as well as in Toronto. Her follow-up, Fremont (2023), premiered at Sundance. Her latest, The Kidnapping of Arabella (2025) screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section, where it won the best actress honor for star Benedetta Porcaroli.

The Orizzonti Jury will award the best film, best director, jury prize, best actor, best actress, and best screenplay honors for films screening in Venice’s main sidebar, as well as the best short film honor.

The first film jury will present the Lion of the Future best film honor to a feature-length debut screening in either the official Venice festival competition or one of its sidebars. The Lion of the Future prize comes with a €100,000 ($114,000) cash bursary to be split evenly between the director and producer of the winning film.

All of the official awards will be announced at the closing ceremony of the 83^rd Venice Film Festival on September 12.

Venice will announce its full 2026 line-up on July 23.