Cruise movie bombed, but director says making it scared the crap out of him

A difficult tone to find

On paper, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie had the trappings of a hit. But he told Business Insider that getting the acting tone right was the most frightening part of the process.

“Tone, you cannot write — you have to feel it and hear it,” Iñárritu said shortly before the movie’s opening weekend. Critics who had helped make “The Revenant” and “Birdman” Oscar darlings criticized his attempt at an ambitious project.

Critics and supporters diverge

“Digger” holds a 53% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The article describes that as the lowest score for Iñárritu and the lowest for Cruise in close to a decade.

The story’s layered reveal

Cruise plays oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, who learns that one of his Arctic wells has exploded and a piece of glacier is moving toward Europe. About half an hour into the film, viewers learn that Rockwell’s saga is a stage play.

The production, titled “Fossil Fools,” features an actor named Curtis Markson as Rockwell. A final twist reveals that the play is based on actual events from years earlier: a real Digger Rockwell’s well exploded, causing an environmental catastrophe that changed mankind.

A world still facing consequences

Markson performs the play for an audience living decades after the events it depicts. The world is still paying the price for the catastrophe. Iñárritu’s interview appeared in Business Insider’s “Director’s Chair” series, which features career-spanning conversations with people directing major Hollywood movies and television series.