Ed Ruscha Designs Digger Poster Unveiled at LACMA

Artist Ed Ruscha unveiled the original Digger poster at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Sunday, September 28. The event, held inside LACMA's David Geffen Galleries, brought together the film's cast and filmmakers, Warner Bros. executives, and figures from the art world, four days before the film opens in theaters on October 2, according to the studio's announcement.

Ruscha, born in 1937 and based in Los Angeles since 1956, is known for paintings, prints, and photographs built around language and the city's landscape, held in major institutional collections worldwide. For Digger, the studio reports, he produced an original poster design inspired directly by the film, a commission announced by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Ruscha moved to Los Angeles in 1956 to study at the Chouinard Art Institute, where he learned to bridge commercial design with fine art. His experimental practice spans six decades, incorporating unconventional materials such as gunpowder and chocolate alongside an ongoing photographic documentation of Los Angeles streets. His work has been the subject of extensive retrospectives, most recently one co-organized by the Museum of Modern Art and LACMA in 2023-2024. He is represented by Gagosian Gallery, according to the studio.

What the filmmakers said

In a statement issued by the studio, Iñárritu said it was "an extraordinary honor to have Ed Ruscha bring his eye to the film," and praised the artist's ability to create "an enormous sense of space with very little." He described Ruscha's work as "funny and profound, precise and mysterious, all at once," and said that seeing Digger through the artist's eyes "felt like a dream."

Iñárritu added that he had been struck by Ruscha's body of work in a LACMA exhibition, and told the audience that what Ruscha had produced was "something only Ed could have made." He called the poster "a beautiful gift."

Cruise told the assembled guests that he had grown up admiring Ruscha's work, and described sharing the moment with the artist as "a great honor," according to the studio's account of the event.

Ruscha told the crowd he had been invited to a screening and jumped at the chance to design the poster after seeing the film. He said the movie kept turning in his mind like "a kaleidoscope," with "round and round ideas," and told the audience they should see the film "just to watch him" — meaning Cruise, whose performance he singled out for praise.

The film and the guest list

Digger is Iñárritu's latest feature as director, with Cruise in the title role. Reporting on the production describes it as a satirical black comedy about a petroleum baron's drilling operation in Greenland that sets off an environmental catastrophe, an allegory of ecological crisis and hubris that Iñárritu developed over nine years. Early screenings have drawn divided critical reactions, according to press coverage of the film.

The unveiling's attendees reflected the project's blend of art and industry. From the film: cast members John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons and Ross Hatt, producer Mary Parent, writer Nicolás Giacobone, casting director Francine Maisler, and production designers Dennis Gassner and Richard Johnson. From the studio: Warner Bros. executives including Pam Abdy and Mike DeLuca. From the art world: publisher Benedikt Taschen, artists including Alex Prager and Jonas Wood, and LACMA CEO and director Michael Govan, according to the studio.

The collaboration also closes a long-standing connection. According to reporting on the event, Iñárritu visited Ruscha's Venice studio during pre-production on his 2003 drama 21 Grams, hoping to cast the painter in a small role. Production schedules kept that screen debut from happening, and the two stayed in touch through museum work before reuniting on the Digger poster.

Digger opens only in theaters this Friday, October 2. Warner Bros. released the poster announcement ahead of the theatrical rollout; read the full statement from the studio.

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