‘Verity’ Star Anne Hathaway Praises Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ with Full Marks
The buzz surrounding ‘Digger’ has been intense since its theatrical release on October 2. Few films this year have polarized critics, audiences, and box office analysts like Tom Cruise’s collaboration with Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Now, Anne Hathaway, who has her own stake in the same weekend, has entered the conversation.
For those who may not know, ‘Digger’ is a dark comedy featuring Cruise as Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon whose hubris and greed lead to a global disaster. He then scrambles to prove he is humanity’s savior before the chaos he instigated obliterates everything. The film also stars Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons, and was filmed entirely in VistaVision.
Hathaway viewed the film on October 7 and shared her thoughts in a review on Letterboxd, awarding it a perfect score. She called it a “brilliant” movie, describing it as “smart and trippy and aggressive and funny and ambitious.” The Hollywood Handle posted her review on X, along with a photo of her smiling beside Cruise.
While praising the film, Hathaway encouraged viewers to carve out time to see it and form their own opinions. Her personal rating was a solid 10/10.
Hathaway’s endorsement is particularly noteworthy given the mixed reception of ‘Digger’, which currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51% from critics and 71% from audiences, along with a C+ CinemaScore. It also has a score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic.
Some critics have been more favorable. IndieWire’s Anne Thompson described it as a brave and visually stunning art film that might not resonate with mainstream audiences but could appeal to Academy voters. Others have labeled it a disorganized mess.
The box office performance has been challenging. ‘Digger’ was anticipated to debut with around $8 million domestically, marking Cruise’s weakest opening since ‘Lions for Lambs’ in 2007. This figure is concerning for a film with a reported budget of at least $125 million.
On a positive note, Fandomwire reported that ‘Digger’ has a rating of 3.8 on Letterboxd, surpassing the 3.5 average for the 1986 ‘Top Gun’.
Hathaway is not just an observer in this scenario. Her own thriller ‘Verity’, featuring Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, also opened the same weekend as ‘Digger’. It was projected to dominate the domestic box office with an estimated $33.6 million.
This means Hathaway praised a film that was, in a way, competing with her own. WBUR’s review even compared the two, commending Hathaway in ‘Verity’ while suggesting that Cruise’s performance in ‘Digger’ falls short.
The two stars are also set to collaborate in the future. Reports indicate that Hathaway will star alongside Cruise in the ‘Days of Thunder’ sequel, playing the owner of a racing team and an engineer. Her enthusiastic remarks about ‘Digger’ now seem like a vote of confidence in her future co-star.
Despite the lukewarm opening, Cruise has publicly supported the film. In a post on X, he expressed his honor in collaborating with such talented artists and thanked the cast and crew for their dedication and enthusiasm. Many observers view the film as a potential awards contender for the actor, who, despite having an honorary Oscar, has never won an acting award.
Whether Hathaway’s endorsement will encourage more viewers to head to theaters remains uncertain. Nevertheless, it adds a prominent voice to the camp that considers ‘Digger’ an ambitious, unique, and memorable project.
A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released.
In theaters October 2. https://t.co/kTEeFZI14E— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026
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