Tom Cruise to visit South Korea next month with director Alejandro González Iñárritu for 'Digger,' marking his 13th visit, the most by a Hollywood star

Hollywood master and superstar team up for 'Digger,' returning with bold visuals

Global Hollywood star 'Tom Cruise' will return to South Korea with his new film 'Digger'. Warner Bros. Korea, the film's distributor, announced on the 11th that lead actor Tom Cruise and director 'Alejandro González Iñárritu' will make an official visit to South Korea on Oct. 2.

The visit comes one year and five months after Cruise last visited the country for the 'Mission: Impossible' series. It will mark his '13th visit to South Korea'—the most by any Hollywood actor—and once again underscore his special affection for the Korean market. Iñárritu, who will accompany Cruise, will also meet Korean audiences for the first time in 17 years, following his appearance at the Prada Transformer Film Festival in 2009. The two plan to engage closely with local fans through a press conference and red-carpet event on the day of their visit.

Opening Oct. 3, 'Digger' follows a series of events set off when the oil-drilling facility owned by Digger Rockwell, an eccentric billionaire with an authoritarian streak, triggers a global catastrophe. Cruise plays Rockwell, an oil-industry magnate, and undergoes radically transformative special-effects makeup, including white hair, deeply etched wrinkles and a protruding belly, in a departure from his familiar action-hero image.

Iñárritu, who directs the film, is one of Hollywood's leading masters. He swept the Academy Awards for best picture, director and screenplay in 2015 for 'Birdman,' then won best director again the following year for 'The Revenant.' The film also features a strong ensemble cast, including Sandra Hüller of 'Anatomy of a Fall,' John Goodman of 'Barton Fink' and Jesse Plemons of 'Bugonia,' further raising expectations for the finished work.