Tom Cruise is working diligently on the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequel, Dead Reckoning Part One, but his die-hard fans are still calling out for a return to the time-loop franchise Edge of Tomorrow (later known as Live. Die. Repeat.). However, the film series’ screenwriter, Christopher McQuarrie, has spoken out about the fate of the fabled Edge of Tomorrow 2.
McQuarrie is a longtime collaborator with Cruise, and has worked with him on many projects, including Edge of Tomorrow.
Based on the manga, All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow’s sequel has been spoken out freely in the past, but the actors and writers have since fallen silent.
That is, until earlier this week, when McQuarrie was quizzed about the fate of the Cruise-led sequel. A fan wrote to him on Twitter: “my wife had never seen Edge of Tomorrow, so we watched it together on Monday. Now she gets why I love it so much. Are there more stories you want to tell in that universe, or is the time loop broken once and for all?” (sic)
He candidly replied with the worst news imaginable: “There was an idea for another one. Not quite a sequel or prequel. An equal? Alas, for various reasons it never came together.”
This will come as a big surprise for fans of the series, considering the comments the writer made back in 2018.
McQuarrie spoke about the series’ future shortly after the picture hit cinemas, saying: “We’re working on it. No idea how or when it will happen.”
One of the stars from the movie had similar sentiments for Edge of Tomorrow 2.
Emily Blunt, who played Sergeant Rita Vrataski (and Cruise’s love interest), previously told Howard Stern that the sequel may have been “too expensive” to make.
When asked if she would consider returning for another movie, however, she replied: “We wanted to!”
“Honestly, I think the movie’s too expensive,” Blunt confessed. “I just don’t know how we’re going to do it.”
On top of that, she went on, Blunt felt it would be “hard to align everyone’s schedules”.
“I would love it,” she went on. “[Director] Doug Liman would love it, Tom would love it – we’d all love to do it. But until we figure out what’s going on with the industry… we need to figure out what is the next road map for the kinds of films people want to make.”
Liman, the first movie’s director, previously spoke candidly about how the script was shaping up, as well.
Liman explained: “First of all the story is so amazing – much better than the original film, and I loved the original film – and second of all, it’s a sequel that’s a prequel.”
He went on to add: “If I’m going to do a sequel for the first time in my life I want to make it the opposite of what you’d expect from a sequel and we found a story that does that.”
At the moment, Cruise is only billed to be starring in two upcoming movies: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.”
Edge of Tomorrow is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video now.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is due to hit cinemas on July 14, 2023.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two is due to arrive on June 28, 2024.
