Tom Cruise: Countdown to the Spirit Tunnel

The Digger review embargo has been lifted, and as expected, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest is polarising by the very definition of the word: at the time of this post, it’s at 51% at Rotten Tomatoes and 48% at Metacritic.

Digger opens on Friday alongside Verity, the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, and while the embargoes for that film have not yet been lifted, social media reaction is buzzing after the advance screenings from last night. So far it’s looking like Verity was made for TikTok and Twitter – whether or not that translates into real dollars at the box office remains to be seen. But don’t be surprised if Anne Hathaway takes out Tom Cruise head-to-head to claim her third box office win of the year. And then she’ll hopefully safely give birth to her third child before coming back for an Oscar campaign, no big deal!

But back to Tom, because to be fair he’s not just after the box office with Digger, this film was never meant to be a Mission: Impossible performer; there are, however, award season hopes. So it’ll be interesting to see how the industry responds to it since he is actually doing something interesting here, making a movie about an idea and not an action.

Tom and the cast were at the LA premiere yesterday, continuing the press tour, and right after he went viral for this post that seems to now have been deleted by the original user but was shared everywhere.

when tom cruise thinks you’re in distress so he checks on you but you were just doom scrolling and got the surprise of a lifetime 😂

TikTok @ klementina_|le pic.twitter.com/yjE1kcc5Vg

— delaney (@tweetyenergy) September 27, 2026

To the kids out there who don’t know, he has always been like this. And that’s why he’s such a paradox. Because, yes, the whole other conversation about him and his associations but also, for decades, he’s been about small kindnesses. I was the recipient of a small Tom Cruise kindness (though not the famous holiday cake) and I’ve witnessed his small kindnesses many times. He’s one of the few big ass stars who has come through our studio and had a kind word for everyone at all levels of the organisation. So many people in the film business have similar anecdotes. I’m sure it’ll be the same at the Jennifer Hudson Show tomorrow when he comes through.

It’s happening. Just one more day, the countdown to Tom Cruise doing the spirit tunnel is upon us. And remember, no matter what happens, whatever grooves he gives us in the moment, we win.