Edge of Tomorrow 2

What happened to Edge of Tomorrow 2? It started years ago when Tom Cruise got stuck in one of the more interesting time loop scenarios we’ve seen in recent memory.

A far cry from Phil Connors waking up each morning on Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney and living out a virtual hell of small-town nuance, in Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise’s character is forced to repeat a set of events over and over fighting an alien race that can control the flow of time. 

Teaming up with Emily Blunt, they spend thousands of iterations honing in on exactly what can defeat the alien force while also struggling with ideas around “fate” among other themes. The movie was fascinating, and something of a surprise hit with critics and audiences alike. 

The sci-fi movie earned over $370 million at the box office, and fans instantly began wondering if there’d be an Edge of Tomorrow 2.

Even though the movie had a rather definitive ending, conceptually and stylistically there was enough to get excited about when it came to further delving into these characters and exploring a universe where time is fungible.

An Edge Of Tomorrow Spin-Off Series Is In The Works At HBO

It was announced back in February 2022 that Warner Bros was developing a spin-off series for this franchise and it would eventually premiere on HBO. While this wouldn’t be Edge of Tomorrow 2, it apparently is set to live in the same universe.

Neither Tom Cruise nor Emily Blunt were part of this series, so it would be going in a different direction than the original movie. But since this announcement, Warner Bros. has had major shakeups in its creative departments and just studio in general with huge cuts coming down on productions and plans alike.

Tom Cruise And Emily Blunt’s Schedules Need To Line Up For Edge Of Tomorrow 2

Director Doug Liman spoke about when fans could expect Edge of Tomorrow 2 to begin filming, and he was exceptionally blunt about how the sequel is going to happen.

“It’s one of these things where if Tom, Emily and I were to say, ‘we’re ready to pull the trigger on this script,’ it’s Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, the film gets made,” Liman said.

“That’s pretty much how Hollywood works. The stars are the gatekeepers. If you can get Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt to commit to the movie, it’s going to happen.”

Sounds like the movie won’t get underway until the two stars can agree on a time to do it. So the power seems to rest squarely in the hands of Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

Meanwhile, director Doug Liman has signed on for several other projects, including a SpaceX movie based on an idea from Cruise written by Liman and Cruise’s Mission: Impossible partner, Christopher McQuarrie.

Factors Like Cost And Timing Have Paused Edge Of Tomorrow 2

Though the sequel has been “in the works” almost from the minute the earliest reviews came in (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the box office numbers proved strong, we are years and years removed and there hasn’t been much in the way of definitive news around Edge of Tomorrow 2. 

One problem is that there have been starts and stops along the way, with many things factoring in about why the sequel wasn’t fast-tracked. Sometimes, pre-production can halt or stall on a single factor (a big name wants out, creative differences, etc), but that hasn’t been the case here. It looks like a confluence of factors that have stalled up from Living and Dying and Repeating and whatnot. 

Emily Blunt had even come out and said that the movie might be too expensive to ever get made.

Let’s start first with the stars. Namely, Tom Cruise. It’s been intimated that the first hurdle to clear with the sequel was Cruise’s schedule. Since Edge of Tomorrow, he’s done two Mission: Impossible movies (Rogue Nation and Fallout) plus Jack Reacher, The Mummy, and American Made. And then Top Gun: Maverick hit theaters in the summer of 2022. Of course, there are also Mission: Impossible films (Dead Reckoning Part One and Dead Reckoning Part 2).

On Cruise’s part, it doesn’t appear lack of interest but rather a lack of being able to manipulate the calendar like the aliens in the movie. They just aren’t able to create more minutes in the day or days in the year. 

Additionally, Emily Blunt’s schedule became problematic as well. She was committed to the Mary Poppins franchise, among other things, and also intimated that sequels “terrified” her which sounds overly melodramatic but at least points to some hesitancy around returning for Edge of Tomorrow 2.

In that same interview, she did express excitement about returning for another round of alien fighting with Tom Cruise but said “…the idea would have to be good. It would just have to be a great idea. I don’t want to dilute how good the first one is…” 

While the movie’s director has continued to make announcements about The Edge of Tomorrow 2, including an official title for the movie, Emily Blunt remains doubtful that it will happen.

As recently as May 2021, she has said during interviews that, “Honestly, I think the movie is too expensive. I just don’t know how we’re going to do it.”

Doug Liman Detailed The Script Complexity On Instagram

It’s the script that might have had Edge of Tomorrow 2 hung up in preproduction for so long. Just what would a script look like as a compliment to the first movie which really did seem to tell a complete story? 

Director Doug Liman, who also directed American Made with Cruise, originally showed some hesitancy around even wanting to do a sequel after being involved with the Bourne films and their sequels. 

But it looks like he got over that hurdle when an original and exciting idea appeared that could lead a repeat for Edge of Tomorrow 2. 

On Instagram and through interviews, Liman has shown what a detailed process they have for telling another story. To put it plainly, the initial process involves an entire room’s worth or whiteboard notes.

This makes sense, for as “simple” as the original was in its concept, (Live. Die. Repeat) the entire story was actually insanely complex and had to be detailed down to the very minutiae to work. 

So it appears that coming up with a story that worked and lived up to the first movie without compromising anything in that realm was almost just as difficult as clearing Cruise’s and Blunt’s respective schedules. Liman has said in interviews that Edge of Tomorrow 2 will actually be more along the lines of a prequel.

It’s been rumored that Edge of Tomorrow 2 will pick up where the first one left off but then revert to a different timeline, somewhere in the past before the events of the original. Time travel in movies is a tricky business, and it’s easy to have the concept go way off the rails when it comes to execution. The creative team, plus producer Christopher McQuarrie (who also worked with Cruise on Top Gun: Maverick) appear excited about the prospects. 

An original screenplay was conceived by Jez Butterworth who penned the original, but it appears Matthew Robinson took over some of those duties and is credited with the current version of the script. He also wrote the surprisingly well-received Dora and the Lost City of Gold (84% on Rotten Tomatoes).