‘Edge of Tomorrow’ Writer Christopher McQuarrie Confirms He Has a Sequel Idea, Could Make It Easier to Sell

Last week, Tom Cruise caused a bit of a stir when he revealed that there are tentative plans for an Edge of Tomorrow sequel — there’s nothing solid or official in place yet, but apparently he’s thinking about it. So is Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote Edge of Tomorrow and wrote / directed Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Uproxx had a great, extended chat with McQuarrie, which they’ll be publishing in full next week, but today they revealed part of that conversation — the portion which pertains to a potential Edge of Tomorrow sequel. Edge of Tomorrow ended by basically wiping the slate clean after Cruise and Emily Blunt’s characters effectively vanquished the alien threat, but the ending doesn’t really provide a clear set-up for a sequel, and some fans think the film works better as a standalone — a rarity in our contemporary age of sequelitis.

McQuarrie says he does have an idea for a sequel, but it’s obviously contingent upon whether or not the main players want to return:

It all comes down to Warner Bros. and Doug Liman and Emily Blunt saying yes. The idea is there. At worst, it’s the kernel of an idea – which is, on one hand, great, but on the other hand, I know what a nightmare that is. I know that I’ll be in the void trying to figure that out. And even then when it came out in the press after Tom had mentioned it, right away, there were people on social media saying, “Don’t do it, it should never have a sequel, etc., etc.” And I’m just laughing because I’m like, “You guys don’t even know what we are talking about! You have no idea!” Look, that was one of the best creative teams I’ve ever worked with as far as a team of rivals: Emily is one facet of that; Doug Liman is a completely different and opposing force; Tom Cruise is another. And there I am in the middle, just playing to these three really strong, really smart people.

The writer / director also says that Edge of Tomorrow taught him a bit about marketing and he thinks the sequel could be a much easier sell:

What I’ve learned, having made Mission, is what I would write into the movie to make that movie an easier sell. Edge of Tomorrow was incredibly difficult to market. From the look of the film… to the title of the film, whatever the title was, whether it was All You Need is Kill or Edge of Tomorrow — and God help us figuring out what the title of the sequel is. The Edge of the Day After Tomorrow? I don’t know. But the humor in the film took a good 35 minutes to really dawn on you – the movie really sneaks up on you and takes this sudden left turn. The movie didn’t have the moments that a trailer needs to tell you, “This is the experience you’re going to have.” Jack Reacher was a really tough movie to market and we were constantly struggling... Edge of Tomorrow didn’t have a presence on social media until the weekend it came out, then people go, “Oh my God, it’s really good” … it was too little, too late.

For now, it’s just an idea. Cruise has been confirmed to return for Mission: Impossible 6, and he’ll likely continue his great working relationship with McQuarrie. No matter what these two end up doing, we’ll be there.