Edge Of Tomorrow 2 - Will It Ever Happen?
Released in 2014, "Edge of Tomorrow" had Tom Cruise taking a step back from his traditional hero characters, instead playing a cowardly public relations officer who finds himself on the frontlines of an alien invasion. Here, Cruise's Major William Cage winds up stuck in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day every time he dies in combat. With the help of Emily Blunt's no-nonsense Sergeant Rita Vrataski, Cage fights against time to save himself and the world before the otherworldly threat takes over Earth.
Greeted with overwhelmingly positive reviews, "Edge of Tomorrow" was praised for director Doug Liman's slick action sequences, Cruise and Blunt's chemistry, and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie's sharp and inventive script. The film has only grown in status since 2014, earning $28 million in home video sales, and its followers have long wanted to see Cruise live, die, and repeat a second time. So what's keeping Blunt and Cruise from doing the time warp again? Read on for why we've yet to see an "Edge of Tomorrow 2" and whether or not we ever will.
Why isn't Edge of Tomorrow 2 happening yet?
When "Edge of Tomorrow" hit theaters, its massive critical praise didn't match up the box office dollars. With its $178 million budget, "Edge of Tomorrow" only earned $100 million at the domestic box office, for a $370 million worldwide total — not exactly a promising start if you want to kick off a blockbuster franchise.
Nevertheless, all the top dogs involved wanted to see a sequel happen. Speaking with MTV News in 2015, Tom Cruise revealed he'd pitched an idea for an "Edge of Tomorrow 2" to director Doug Liman and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, also confirming that Emily Blunt was interested in joining. A few months later, McQuarrie told Collider that the creative team had "the idea for the sequel locked and loaded."
However, the movie has had a hard time finding a script. In 2016, it was reported that "Rebecca" writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse would be penning the screenplay, with McQuarrie producing and helping the story along. Then, it was announced that Jez Butterworth (who co-wrote the original film) would be taking a stab at the script, with "The Invention of Lying" scribe Matthew Robinson writing yet another version in 2019.
Since then, director Doug Liman has given various statements about the screenplay. In 2019, he told ComicBookMovie.com that it was good to go. Then in 2021, Liman stepped back a bit when talking with Collider, saying it wasn't quite finished yet, but he thought the process would get fast-tracked if Cruise and Blunt said they were ready to rock. Of course, Cruise and Blunt have been pretty busy. For example, Cruise wanted to make the sequel in 2017, but Blunt was working on "Mary Poppins Returns." The leading man himself has also been caught up with the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, causing an "Edge of Tomorrow" sequel to stall out.
In short, it seems that all the major players just can't work out a script or their schedules. And perhaps most importantly, it seems that money might be a major factor...
What the cast and crew have said about Edge of Tomorrow 2
Director Doug Liman has been wanting to make "Edge of Tomorrow 2" for quite some time. In January 2018, the eager filmmaker told Collider, "It has the possibility of being my next film." Just a few months later, he spoke to the publication again, saying, "We have an amazing story, and we're just figuring it out if it's actually feasible to do."
Emily Blunt was also impressed with what the filmmakers had lined up. Despite all the aforementioned screenplay drama, evidently Blunt read some version of the script and was quite impressed. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in May 2021, Blunt told the publication, "That was an amazing script, but I just don't know what the future holds for it. I did read a script that was in really great shape, but it's just a matter of if that can even happen now."
Talking to Howard Stern that same month, Blunt sounded even more pessimistic, saying she couldn't imagine how the film would even get off the ground due to the budget. "Honestly, I think the movie is too expensive," Blunt told the talk show host, adding that while all the major players would love to do it, it's incredibly hard to get everyone's schedules to work out. After all, since "Edge of Tomorrow" hit theaters in 2014, Cruise has starred in six released movies, with two upcoming "Mission: Impossible" flicks, while Emily Blunt has appeared in 12 released movies and has several more on the docket.
And when it comes to the price tag, Blunt might be right on the money. After all, "Edge of Tomorrow" was a major financial bomb. Would Warner Bros. want to risk investing all that cash in a super expensive sequel to a financial failure when they can just reboot the "Harry Potter" franchise or rebuild the DC Universe? Based on what we know about Hollywood in general and Warner Bros. specifically, we're going to say no.
What could be explored in Edge of Tomorrow 2?
While we don't know much about a potential plot for "Edge of Tomorrow 2," we do know that Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie had big ambitions. Firstly, we know the movie would've had a very different title. When the original film was released on home video, it was basically rebranded as "Live Die Repeat," so when he was speaking with Collider in 2017, Liman revealed the sequel would be called "Live Die Repeat and Repeat."
We also know the filmmaker planned to get really weird with all the Tom Cruise-hopping timelines. Speaking with Collider in 2016, the director revealed, "It's a sequel that's a prequel." Would that mean a standard prequel to the alien invasion? Or would that mean Cruise and Emily Blunt travel back before the events of the first film? We're willing to bet it's the latter — or something equally as strange — since Liman promised the movie would "revolutionize how people make sequels."
Original screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie confirmed this approach in April 2023, telling a fan on Twitter, "There was an idea for another one. Not quite a sequel or prequel. An equal? Alas, for various reasons it never came together."
Interestingly, Liman has said the sequel would actually take a smaller, quieter approach than the 2014 movie. "I've always been interested in the idea of a sequel being more character-driven than the first film because that's now how things are normally done," he told Collider in 2021, adding, "I get sometimes the sequel just has to have more firepower or more explosions, but no visual effect is going to top what you're going to get from a great scene performed by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt."
Now, that kind of flies in the face of what Blunt said about a prospective part two — that it would be too expensive. Was Blunt overestimating the price tag? Has Liman decided to scale back in order to reduce the budget? We're not sure, and unless "Live Die Repeat and Repeat" comes to the big screen, we'll never find out.
Could we get an Edge of Tomorrow TV series?
Warner Bros. made the shocking choice in 2021 to send its entire theatrical slate to its newly launched streaming HBO Max (now known as Max) ... and this didn't go down well with everybody. For example, Village Roadshow, a frequent co-financier of Warner Bros., sued the media giant for a breach of contract by sending "The Matrix Resurrections" to streaming. Made publicly available in 2022, the court documents of the lawsuit revealed that "Edge of Tomorrow," another property that Village Roadshow had its hands in developing, was on track to receive the streaming treatment, via a TV show.
The contents of the documents didn't suggest what stage of development the "Edge of Tomorrow" series was in or if it would feature Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. No creatives, like Doug Liman or Christopher McQuarrie, are publicly attached as of now. Recent years have seen several successful films be adapted for television, like "Cobra Kai," so it's not surprising that Warner Bros. saw potential in adapting the sci-fi action flick for the small screen. The series could possibly retell the events of the original film and implement's Liman's idea for a sequel for a second season. Or, it could go in a different direction, focusing on another military member getting stuck in a time loop. Anything is possible.
As for where the sequel currently stands: Who knows? Cruise and Liman are currently working on a $200 million movie that will be shot in space. Plus, with David Zaslav in charge of Warner Bros. and being incredibly keen to cancel movies and TV series, don't assume the series is even happening until you actually click play on the first episode.