Overview
- The film’s first press screenings and a star‑studded London premiere produced sharply split reactions on Tuesday, with critics calling the movie everything from a daring art film to a messy misfire.
- Many reviewers singled out Tom Cruise’s heavily prosthetic, physically altered turn as a bold, awards‑worthy performance even when they faulted the film’s tone or coherence.
- Critics and industry observers praise the movie’s technical craft—Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography and Dennis Gassner’s production design—but say the satirical tone and a key secret reveal are polarizing.
- Insiders and coverage estimate a $125–130 million production spend and say that, after marketing and awards campaigning, the film may need roughly $300 million worldwide to break even, raising commercial risk.
- Warner Bros. begins a global rollout Sept. 30 with U.S. and U.K. release on Oct. 2 in IMAX/VistaVision, and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu is publicly framing the film as an exploration of storytelling and human nature ahead of opening weekend.