Tom Cruise has returned to the cover of GQ for the first time in two decades, and the October 2026 issue frames the moment as a genuine career turning point. According to GQ, the 64-year-old actor sat down for two rare conversations with writer Zach Baron — one alongside director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and one solo — timed to the release of Digger, the film Cruise calls "the culmination of all my skills."
The timing is no accident. Digger, which opened in theaters on October 2, 2026, casts Cruise as an oil magnate confronting an environmental disaster he helped cause, and it marks his first non-action, non-franchise film since American Made in 2017. Cruise told ABC News the film is "a story about power, greed," and he has described the character as unlike anyone he has ever played — complete with a heavy prosthetic transformation that left some viewers unable to recognize him.
The road to the role was famously long. During production of Top Gun: Maverick in 2019, Cruise rode his motorcycle overnight from San Diego to Los Angeles to meet Iñárritu, and the partnership was born. "When I look at Digger, and finally after 25 years to be able to work with Iñárritu," Cruise told GQ, "everything's led to this." Shot on VistaVision by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, the film was developed by Iñárritu over roughly a decade.
Not everything about the comeback has been smooth. Digger earned just $1.2 million in Thursday previews, with trackers projecting an opening under $10 million domestically, and reviews have been divided at around 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — which would make it Cruise's first "rotten" film in nine years. Whether the film finds its audience or not, the GQ return — which Condé Nast describes as part of its largest-ever global cover initiative spanning 20 markets — signals that the most durable movie star of his generation is swinging for something different.
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