Warner Brothers has tapped Matthew Robinson (‘Monster Trucks’) to pen the script for the sequel to ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ the 2014 disappointment which applied a ‘Groundhog’s Day’ time loop device to a sci-fi war movie, with Tom Cruise playing a soldier that dies repeatedly, only to wake up to relive the same events again. Cruise and co-star Emily Blunt are expected to return along with director Doug Liman. Christopher McQuarrie wrote the script for the original, which was based on the manga ‘All You Need is Kill’ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
While ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ was a box office disappointment in the United States, it received strong reviews and even average viewers that saw it seemed to like it overall. Much of the movie’s lackluster performance was blamed on the boring, vague title, which was changed from the much more accurate and descriptive ‘Live, Die, Repeat’. The name was switched back to ‘Live, Die, Repeat’ for its home video release, and its popularity has grown since. Even with the dud of a title ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, the film made $370 million worldwide in theaters, so it ended up being a financial success, regardless.
Talk of a sequel began before the first movie was released, as this was viewed as a potential franchise, but after the first film choked, things stalled. But those close to the project have remained optimistic that a follow-up could still materialize and it looks as though things are now inching forward.
Since the release of ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, the horror movie ‘Happy Death Day’ and its sequel ‘Happy Death Day 2 U’ have also employed a similar time loop device, as has Netflix’s critically-acclaimed new series ‘Russian Doll’ starring Natasha Lyonne, created by Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland.
Were you a fan of ‘Edge of Tomorrow’/’Live, Die, Repeat’? Are you excited that a sequel could be on its way?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter