OK! Exposes Tom Cruise's NINE-FIGURE Battle to Land Oscar Glory — And Rival Leonardo DiCaprio in Serious Acting Stakes

Tom Cruise is hoping his upcoming nine-figure movie Digger will lead to Oscar glory, OK! can reveal.

The action man, 63, is set to star in the provocative new black comedy insiders say he views as a decisive pivot back to prestige acting – and a direct bid to rival contemporaries such as Leonardo DiCaprio after years defined by globe-trotting action franchises.

The film, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 62, is set to cost at least $125 million and marks the filmmaker's first English-language feature since The Revenant in 2015, which landed DiCaprio a Best Actor Oscar.

Set around "the most powerful man in the world" whose actions trigger a disaster, the story of Digger follows a frantic mission to prove its leading man can save humanity.

The cast also includes Riz Ahmed, Emma D'Arcy, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller. Warner Bros. is backing the project, which will see Cruise in heavy prosthetics and far from the aerodynamic heroics of Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick.

Industry scepticism about the price tag surfaced quickly. One movie reviewer scoffed: "A high-budget original Iñárritu comedy – Warners is saying it cost $125 million, but I'm already suspicious – with Tom Cruise in prosthetics – basically next year's One Battle After Another."

That comparison matters: One Battle After Another, starring DiCaprio alongside Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti, is believed to have cost between $130 million and $175 million and has been positioned squarely as awards bait.

Sources close to Cruise say the comparison is intentional.

One insider told us: "Tom sees Digger as his return to serious, character-driven work after years as an action standard-bearer. He believes this is the lane where DiCaprio has dominated, and he wants back into that conversation."

Another added: "He is immensely proud of the Mission: Impossible run, but he does not want to be defined only by spectacle. This is about range, risk and respect."

Iñárritu has been effusive about Cruise's performance in Digger.

He said: "I'm so excited. It was an incredible experience with Tom, Sandra Huller, Jesse Plemmons, with Riz Ahmed, but it's a character driven film mounted on the shoulders of Tom which I knew he was exactly the right person."

The director continued: "This is a wild comedy of catastrophic proportions. It's insane. (Cruise) makes me laugh every day. The range that I discovered working with Tom is unprecedented for me as a director. I was so f------ impressed and happy."

The director emphasized tone and ambition over scale in Cruise's performance.

He added: "(Cruise) gives himself. He has an incredible sense of passion. It's a brutal comedy. It's a wild comedy of human nature. It's scary and funny. It's beautiful."

Iñárritu added: "It was a very challenging film, you will see. It's many borders of many things. Every film challenges me. I don't like doing things that I've done already. This is something that we've never done, and it's exciting as well."

Cruise has been nominated for three Oscars – Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia – but has never won.

Insiders say Digger represents a calculated swing. "This is not a cameo or a prestige flirtation," one source said. "He wants a film that can sit alongside the boldest work of his peers and remind voters he can disappear into character."

Whether the nine-figure bet pays off remains to be seen.

But with Iñárritu's ferocious sensibility and Cruise's hunger for reinvention, Digger arrives framed as a statement – costly, risky and unmistakably aimed at awards season.