Before Christopher McQuarrie sent Tom Cruise 5,000 feet into the air for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the screenwriter-cum-director penned the screenplay for Doug Liman’s 2014 sci-fi actioner, Edge of Tomorrow. Boasting impressive visuals effects and Cruise playing against type as a hapless soldier fighting off a seemingly endless wave of alien Mimics, the film proved to be a cult hit, and talk of a sequel followed closely behind.
In fact, a fortnight ago Cruise dropped the biggest hint of a follow-up to date, adding that he is game for returning as rookie solder Bill Cage, even stating that he pitched an idea to both McQuarrie and Liman that has the potential to work as a feature film. Now, McQuarrie has weighed in on the matter. In an interview with Uproxx, the Rogue Nation director had this to share about the potential of a sequel.
It all comes down to Warner Bros. and Doug Liman and Emily Blunt saying yes. The idea is there. At worst, it’s the kernel of an idea – which is, on one hand, great, but on the other hand, I know what a nightmare that is. I know that I’ll be in the void trying to figure that out. And even then when it came out in the press after Tom had mentioned it, right away, there were people on social media saying, “Don’t do it, it should never have a sequel, etc., etc.” And I’m just laughing because I’m like, “You guys don’t even know what we are talking about! You have no idea!”
Look, that was one of the best creative teams I’ve ever worked with as far as a team of rivals: Emily is one facet of that; Doug Liman is a completely different and opposing force; Tom Cruise is another. And there I am in the middle, just playing to these three really strong, really smart people.
As is often the case with tentpole summer releases, when it comes to talk of a sequel or continuation, the buck stops at the studio. And though Edge of Tomorrow drew praise for its novel approach to a well-worn subgenre – not to mention a time travel arc that holds up on repeat viewings – Liman’s actioner pulled in just north of $360 million at the international box office, which is a fairly respectable haul off a $170 million budget. Still, only when WB crunches the numbers will we have any more news of a potential continuation in the war against the Mimics.
Tell us, would you like to see Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt return for an Edge of Tomorrow sequel – or indeed prequel – of some sorts? Let us know below.