Pulling double duty: ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ sequel will also serve as a prequel

Doug Liman’s 2014 sci-fi action film Edge of Tomorrow was one of that year’s criminally underappreciated gems, but it did well enough for the studio to move forward with a sequel — and that follow-up film will likely serve as both a sequel and a prequel, according to the director.

Liman offered some details about the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow (also known by its tagline — “Live. Die. Repeat.” — and marketed as such for its home video release) during a recent interview, hinting that — much like the original film — the story could play with the nature of time in one way or another.

“That is the only sequel that I’m considering doing,” Liman told Collider. “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.”

The 2014 film followed a public relations officer played by Tom Cruise who becomes a reluctant soldier in a war against an alien species that has conquered most of Earth. Thrown into battle and almost immediately killed, Cruise’s character finds himself reliving the same day over and over again in an endless time loop, and must seek the aid of a ruthlessly skilled soldier played by Emily Blunt, who has some secrets of her own.

Edge of Tomorrow was based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s 2004 Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill. The screenplay was penned by Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, The Way of the Gun). The script for the sequel is being written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (Race).

“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,” said Liman of the Edge of Tomorrow sequel. “So it’s gonna revolutionize how people make sequels.”

With Liman and many of the primary cast members on Edge of Tomorrow currently engaged with other projects, it’s unknown when production will actually get underway on the sequel.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2faAAvN
Rick Marshall