Tom Cruise said it took him four decades of acting to reach a point where he could portray the eccentric oil tycoon at the centre of the upcoming dark comedy Digger.

Cruise unveiled the first images from the film on Tuesday at the CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas. The images showed the 63-year-old actor transformed into Digger Rockwell, an older man with thinning gray hair, a beer belly, a Southern accent and a fondness for cats.

In the film, Rockwell inadvertently triggers an ecological disaster that pushes the world to the brink of nuclear war, before attempting to save the planet.

“It took 40 years to be able to put on the boots of Digger Rockwell and play the many, many layers of this character,” Cruise said. “The movie is wild, it's funny, and I can't wait for you all to see it”.

The Warner Bros. film is scheduled to debut in theaters in October.

Cruise was joined on stage by director Alejandro Inarritu, a four-time Oscar winner. The filmmaker behind Birdman and The Revenant said the project was first discussed seven years ago.

Cruise, who was filming Top Gun: Maverick at the time, said he had long admired Inarritu’s work and rushed to meet him on his motorcycle when invited.

“We know that he is fearless: the stunts, the planes, the jumps,” Inarritu said of Cruise. “But I have to say, I think this is another kind of fearless. This role possibly could be (his) most challenging,” adding, “It was a high-wire act”.

“I had a lot of fun at CinemaCon seeing so many friends. The year has already gotten off to a great start for cinema, and I'm looking forward to all the films still to come in the year ahead from countless hardworking and talented artists,” Tom Cruise posted on social media later.

“Today, my dear friend Alejandro G. Iñárritu and I had a blast sharing our sneak peek of DIGGER. We cannot wait to share this film with the world in October and to be part of what is going to be such a special year at the movies,” he added.

Cruise opened a star-studded presentation of upcoming films from Warner Bros, which is coming off a year of commercial success and 11 Oscars and is in the process of being sold to Paramount Skydance in a USD 110-billion deal.