Guillermo del Toro defends Tom Cruise's 'Digger' and calls an IGN headline "petty"

Mixed · 2Guillermo del Toro publicly defended Alejandro G. Iñárritu's film Digger, starring Tom Cruise, in posts on X after it received polarised reviews. 1 2 Mixed · 2His first post replied to IGN, which had written that the theatre experience would not change minds on Digger and that its laughs would still be there when it reached HBO Max; del Toro called it an "Entirely Petty headline" and said he loves the film, which he described as "Daring, bold and cinematically complex" and "Decidedly a theatrical experience". 1 2 Left · 1Per The Hollywood Reporter, he also compared the reception to that of Ken Russell's The Devils, saying Digger is "NOT about climate change but the manipulation of narratives", that it is released by Warner Bros., and that people should see it in a theatre. 1

Centre · 1Per Deadline, he compared the bad reviews to criticism of The King of Comedy (1982), The Big Lebowski (1998) and The Counselor (2013), which audiences later came to appreciate, and he kept reposting fans' praise, writing "Dig or Die – c'mon!" on one. 2 Mixed · 2The outlets give slightly different review figures: The Hollywood Reporter reports 54 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes with a 65 percent audience score, while Deadline reports a 51% critic rating and a C+ CinemaScore. 1 2 Left · 1The Hollywood Reporter says the film is eyeing a domestic opening below $15 million, and notes that Iñárritu and del Toro have been friends for decades. 1

Centre · 1In the film, Cruise plays oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, who races to fix a catastrophe he caused so he can avoid blame and be seen as humanity's saviour. 2