Tom Cruise’s Best Sci-Fi Film Is Killing It On Streaming
Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow is currently a streaming hit on HBO Max.
Having starred in what feels like trillions of action movies, it’s hard for fans to nail down which Tom Cruise-led high-octane flick is their favorite. But this week, HBO Max subscribers have spoken, launching the Top Gun star’s 2014 sci-fi action feature Edge of Tomorrow to the number two spot on the streamer. With a killer cast list that includes major names like Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brendan Gleeson, paired with the legendary director Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity, American Made), there’s no question what home viewers see in the adrenaline-fueled movie.
Based on the Hiroshi Sakurazaka 2004 novel All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow stars Tom Cruise as Major William Cage, a public relations officer with no fighting experience who finds himself at the head of a rebellion. After aliens have taken over the majority of Europe, Major Cage and his peers revolt against their invaders in hopes of taking back the land they call home. As he makes moves against the enemy, Major Cage will find himself stuck in a time loop, with only a limited window to escape and complete his mission.
While the film had a rocky start, with its early box office projections labeling it as a risky project, the feature would rake in $100.2 million during its time in North American theaters while managing to draw in more fans abroad, earning $270.3 million around the rest of the world. And even with American audiences not completely sold on Tom Cruise’s latest butt-kicking feature, critics celebrated the Eyes Wide Shut star’s performance and that of his co-star, Emily Blunt. They also cheered for director Doug Liman’s vision for the production, and the inventive way he and his team were able to craft the extraterrestrials.
Not your run-of-the-mill alien invasion story, critics were thrilled with the way the original novel was adapted for the big screen by writers Christopher McQuarrie, and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Specifically, the scribes were given praise for their ability to blend humor with explosive drama and keep the invasion story fresh and not similar to stories audiences had already seen. Right up there at the top of Tom Cruise’s Rotten Tomatoes performances, Edge of Tomorrow sits in sixth place with a 91% situated behind greats including Risky Business and Mission Impossible – Fallout.
Edge of Tomorrow would mark the first time that Doug Liman and Tom Cruise would pair up to work on an action blockbuster together, with the duo later teaming up again for 2017’s action-comedy American Made. A major name by way of Hollywood action films, Liman is also the man behind the first installment in the Matt Damon-led Bourne series, The Bourne Identity, and 2021’s star-studded feature Chaos Walking which found names like Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Cynthia Erivo, and Nick Jonas on its call sheet. Next up for Liman, he’ll be tasked with the daunting challenge of bringing 1980’s cult-favorite Road House back to the big screen in a rebooted version that will see Jake Gyllenhaal step into the butt-kicking boots once strapped on by Patrick Swayze.
As for Tom Cruise, this past year has been a major one for the Academy Award-nominated actor with the sweeping success of Top Gun: Maverick. One of the top box office-grossing movies of 2022, the film is up for a slew of awards, marking a job well done for Cruise and the rest of the high-flying team. Next up, we’ll see Cruise make his way back into the Mission: Impossible franchise with the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Part 2.
