Emily Blunt Reveals Why Edge Of Tomorrow 2 Hasn't Happened Yet
In 2014's "Edge of Tomorrow," a non-combat officer named William Cage (Tom Cruise) relives the day he gets involved in the war against aliens over and over again. As he does, however, he and Special Forces agent Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) get closer and closer to figuring out how to defeat them. The movie did well commercially as well as critically — on Rotten Tomatoes, it stands at a 91% Tomatometer Score, with the Audience Score coming in at 90%. And Box Office Mojo reports that the film made more than $370 million worldwide on a $178 million budget, although, taking the price tag into account, this was considered an underperformance — it only grossed about $100 million domestically.
You might wonder why a film with so much star power and success would not have a sequel. In fact, a follow-up to the movie was talked about as early as 2015, when writer Christopher McQuarrie told Collider, "We have the idea for the sequel locked and loaded." Over the following years, news has trickled out about the possibility of the sequel still happening, with additional screenwriters being attached in 2016, a name — "Live Die Repeat and Repeat" — revealed in 2017 (via Collider), and director Doug Liman saying in 2018 (via Collider), "We have an amazing story, and we're just figuring out if it's actually feasible to do." The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the sequel (with yet another screenwriter attached) was in development by 2019.
Yet we still only have the one movie. It sounds like there are multiple reasons for this, but in a new interview, Blunt shed additional light on why we haven't yet seen the sequel for "Edge of Tomorrow."
Blunt explains that cost and availability are factors
In an appearance on SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show" that aired on May 11, Blunt explained the main obstacles to a big-screen return to that world, as she sees it. "We wanted to. Honestly I think the movie's too expensive. I don't know how we're going to do it, and I think that it's hard to align everyone's schedules, and I would love it, Doug Liman would love it, Tom would love it — we'd all love to do it, but I think until we figure out what's going on with the industry, honestly I think we need to figure out what is the next roadmap for the kinds of films people want to make."
In the past, news reports have indicated Blunt was attached to the sequel. However, the main players here are very much in-demand — Blunt and Cruise have no problem finding new roles to play. Liman, too, is busy – he's got several upcoming projects on his slate, including one with Cruise and SpaceX.
As for the industry, it always seems to be in a state of flux – but the issues surrounding moviegoing got much more noticeable this year as a result of COVID-19 changing the way people view their entertainment. Over the years, films have become more expensive to make, with less and less payout as people skip the theater experience in favor of home-based digital solutions that are easier and cheaper. However, it's unclear if Blunt was referring to this or some other aspect of the entertainment industry, as she provided no additional context for her comments.
But could the next film be more character-driven?
Although the potential profitability of the movie seems to be the main impediment here, a January 2021 interview with Liman may indicate that there are ways around that particular barrier. Acknowledging that the first movie was difficult to make, especially because of the time travel elements, he says he's got an idea that the next movie would be smaller, more focused on the people than on upping the spectacle.
"I've always been interested in the idea of a sequel being more character-driven than the first film, because that's not how things are normally done," Liman told Collider. "That's been my approach when developing the sequel and because Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are such phenomenal actors. 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."
He pointed out that the addition of so many screenwriters over the years was no impediment, as that was how the first film was made, and the commitment of Blunt and Cruise is what would really sell the project to Hollywood. "The stars are the gatekeepers. If you can get Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt to commit to the movie, it's going to happen," he said.
Sounds like it's Blunt and Cruise's move now. Let's hope they can clear their schedules and get on the same page sometime this decade for more "Edge of Tomorrow."