Yes,Edge of Tomorrow 2is happening, but will it be a prequel or a sequel? Well, according todirector Doug Liman, it is going to be both. For any other franchise that might be confusing, but sinceEdge of Tomorrowhad to do with time travel, that sort of kind of could make sense.
Doug Limanrecently did an interview withColliderabout his new scripted supernatural VR seriesInvisible. The conversation eventually turned toEdge of Tomorrow 2and the director had some interesting and fairly bold things to say about the upcoming sci-fi sequel. Here’s how he explains it.
“That is the onlysequelthat I’m considering doing, and it’s because first of all the story is so amazing-much better than the original film, and I loved and loved the original film-and second of all, it’s a sequel that’s a prequel.”
There are a few things to note with that statement. The “sequel that’s a prequel” statement is no question the most interesting. Does that meanEdge of Tomorrow 2will be showing more of the initialalien invasion? Will it be digging into the events of the same day featured in the firstEdge of Tomorrowbut with the day unfolding very differently? It is really hard to say, but it is pretty cool that the movie will be making use of the time travel element that made the first movie so effective. It is also pretty important thatDoug Limanseems confident it will be a better movie, given that the firstEdge of Tomorrowwas incredibly well received by both fans and critics.
Lastly, the director mentioned thatEdge of Tomorrow 2is the only sequel he is considering tackling. He did recently sign on to directJustice League Darkfor Warner Bros. as part of the DCEU. That movie will have connective tissue to the other DC movies, but won’t be a sequel to anything, at least from what we can tell. In the interview, he also talked a bit about saying that he wants to how he thinks of sequels, saying that he wants to make a sequel like nobody else would.
“I’ve had some radical ideas about how to make a sequel that would interest me, in the same way that I had ideas of how you make an independent film and then Swingers came along and it was like ‘Aha, that’s the perfect movie for me to test these ideas out on.’ I had these intellectual ideas on how you should make a sequel that are unlike how anybody else makes a sequel, and this script and this idea fit perfectly into that idea. So it’s gonna revolutionize how people make sequels. And again that’s why I try to do things like Invisible that are just, the revolution’s sort of built into the idea. It’s more heresy in the film world for me to pitch things that are sort of unheard of.”
Edge of Tomorrowsuffered a bit from a botched marketing campaign, with a couple of title changes and things of the sort seeming to hurt the movie a bit. The movie did garner a lot of critical acclaim. It currently sits at a 90 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That helpedEdge of Tomorrowearn a respectable $370 million worldwide, but with many people discovering the movie after it left theaters, there is quite a bit of demand for a sequel. So there is no reason to think thatEdge of Tomorrow 2couldn’t best that box office total, especially withTom Cruisebehind the project. TheMission: Impossiblefranchise is stronger than it ever was heading into its sixth installment, so it is probably best not to underestimate the potential of this sequel.
At the moment, there is no release date set forEdge of Tomorrow 2, but it does have a script thatDoug Limanseems to love. It was penned byRacewritersJoe ShrapnelandAnna Waterhouse, who were brought on board earlier this year.Tom CruiseandEmily Bluntwill return forEdge of Tomorrow 2andDoug Limanwill be involved, but we will have to see if his schedule allows him to return to the director’s chair.Tom Cruisewill also be busy filmingMission: Impossible 6next year, andEmily Bluntwill be filming theMary Poppinssequel, so perhaps after those projects wrap up the movie can actually start production.
