More time travel! Brad Pitt! Jeremy Piven? "Edge of Tomorrow’s" journey
from page to screen has more twists and turns than Tom Cruise’s time loops.
If you're going to try and sell Hollywood on a potential movie that isn't rooted in
a deeply beloved franchise, you've got to do something drastic to make sure your idea can
stand out. To that end, screenwriter Dante Harper presented the idea of adapting the
novel "All You Need Is Kill" to Warner Bros. by presenting them with a finished
spec script rather than just a generalized pitch for what the movie could look like.
This would eventually be renamed the more marketing-friendly "Edge of Tomorrow."
Going this route went against most protocols for getting new movies off the ground in Hollywood.
Writing a finished script for a film that isn't greenlit yet could result in a lot of work going
to waste if the studio doesn't accept your pitch. But traditional pitches have become so scarce in
the modern Hollywood ecosystem that Harper and the producers all knew something more drastic
was needed to get the movie on the radar. The result was that Harper got paid almost
$3 million for his spec script even without any filmmakers or actors onboard. Much like "Edge
of Tomorrow's" protagonist is constantly learning in the movie, sometimes risks are well worth it.
The primary focus of Doug Liman's filmography has been big crowd-pleasing blockbusters.
It was a trend established with his hit "The Bourne Identity," with subsequent directorial
efforts like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "Jumper" continuing this trend. He's sometimes helmed
smaller-scale affairs, such as "The Wall" or "Swingers," but he's usually the guy you
call when it's time to direct something costly that's meant to appeal to a wider audience. So
it should be no surprise that he was called on to direct "Edge of Tomorrow," even if,
up to that point, he had no extensive experience with sci-fi storytelling outside of "Jumper."
Still, there was more than just a track record of handling blockbusters that attracted Liman
to "Edge of Tomorrow." The director revealed that what really attracted him
to the project was the central dynamic between a super-powered character and someone who has
no abnormal abilities. Additionally, Liman gravitated towards the idea of making that
non-super-powered individual a woman who could go toe to toe with the movie's male lead. This
continued a fascination Liman had with empowered women that dated back to "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
"As if I thought I knew more about stunt driving than Tom Cruise."
As its leading man, Tom Cruise is central to "Edge of Tomorrow," especially as his gift
for comedy really lends itself to the movie's wacky time-loop scenarios. But he wasn't always
the first choice to anchor this project. Back in September 2011, Brad Pitt was the original
pick to play the protagonist in the movie. This would've reunited Pitt with director Doug Liman,
as the two had collaborated on the smash hit "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
It's easy to imagine why Pitt would've been seen as a prime candidate to anchor "Edge
of Tomorrow," especially since he also has solid comic chops and would've been a big
enough name to draw moviegoers to watch an original blockbuster. However, he ended up
passing on the part. No reason was given as to why he never took on the role, but it's worth
mentioning that Pitt was offered this part while he was in the middle of shooting another big film,
"World War Z." It's not far-fetched to imagine that being in the middle of one massive tentpole
made him wary of signing on to another. Whatever the reason, Pitt turning down "Edge of Tomorrow"
paved the way for Cruise to tackle one of his most interesting blockbuster performances.
Doug Liman has never been a guy who plays things safely while making his movies. Just look at "The
Bourne Identity," which ended up being beloved but had a troubled production due to Liman butting
heads with Warner Bros. It's no surprise, then, that Liman's "Edge of Tomorrow" had its share
of difficulties getting to the silver screen. In this case, part of those challenges emanated from
how much of the original screenplay was tossed just before principal photography got underway.
In a past interview with the Los Angeles Times, Liman openly admitted that he discarded around
two-thirds of the screenplay eight weeks before shooting was about to start. The filmmaker was
ready to build an entirely new vision of this new movie, with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie
joining Liman to crack this concept. As if things weren't treacherous enough, going this route
didn't automatically result in a new complete script. In fact, "Edge of Tomorrow" began filming
even though a complete screenplay didn't exist at that point. Despite Liman's hands-on approach
to getting the story right, the reviews for the film ended up being generally positive, with many
critics specifically praising the crackerjack script. Sometimes, flying by the seat of your
pants, even when it comes to the screenplay of a costly blockbuster, can be the right move.
"Will you please explain to me what the hell is happening?"
In the theatrical cut of "Edge of Tomorrow," Tom Cruise's William Cage
awakens after sacrificing himself to defeat the aliens known as Mimics. As he looks around,
he realizes he's been brought back in time to before the time loop mayhem started. This means
that Emily Blunt's Rita doesn't know him, but that just opens the door for their relationship
to start anew. It's a tidy conclusion that brings things full circle while leaving the
door open for the film's central relationship to keep going well into the future. However,
this wasn't always the way "Edge of Tomorrow" was supposed to end.
Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie explained to Film School Rejects that, originally,
there was going to be an extra wrinkle in the film's ending. Basically, you couldn't kill a
Mimic alien known as an Alpha. Doing that would trigger a new time loop where the aliens know
the plans of the humans. This would lead to a character killing an Alpha during the finale,
which leads to the time loop starting over. The difference in this timeline, though,
is that the humans are wiped out before they can execute their scheme. McQuarrie
had some fondness for this concept but noted that by the time it arrived in the movie,
the audience would be so overwhelmed that adding more time-travel tomfoolery just felt
like overkill. With that, "Edge of Tomorrow" went with a softer, more satisfying ending.
Even once principal photography was finished on "Edge of Tomorrow," it was still being
heavily tweaked and altered. In fact, once a batch of pre-planned reshoots got underway,
it was announced that a new actor had been added to the film's cast. "Entourage" leading man Jeremy
Piven was now set to be a part of this sci-fi blockbuster. At the time, it was noted that
he would be playing a character named Colonel Walter Marx and that his participation in the
feature was made possible due to Piven being on hiatus from his U.K. TV show "Mr. Selfridge."
This would've been a massive departure for Piven from his typical film roles since he usually
plays in smaller-scale comedies rather than massively expensive motion pictures. However,
Piven never wound up in the final cut of "Edge of Tomorrow." No reason has ever been given as
to why Piven ended up on the cutting room floor, though it's likely that, thanks to his presence
being added in reshoots, he ended up being more unnecessary than anything else. The way "Edge
of Tomorrow" was constantly evolving during its lengthy production allowed Piven to get
cast in the film, but its fluid nature also likely resulted in him getting axed from the final cut.
"Do I look happy?"
The lead characters of "Edge of Tomorrow" all must go into battle against the otherworldly Mimics by
strapping on enormous exosuits — equipment that wasn't added on to the characters in
post-production. Every one of the actors, including leads Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt,
had to wear these outfits, which weighed 85 pounds. In a breakdown of the suits with the
production designer on a featurette, it was noted that an extensive amount of thought went into
crafting the finer details of these outfits, including how they needed to be streamlined
enough to just register as functional rather than cool. After all, these exosuits are made for war,
not being sold as toys, so they aren't loaded with extra knick-knacks or glossy qualities.
Once the designs were figured out for these exosuits, there were still
extensive problems with getting people in and out of the costumes on set. Initially,
Cruise, for example, had to spend a whole half-hour just to get suited up,
though that timespan was soon whittled down to 30 seconds. Committing to such bulky outfits
doubtlessly made shooting "Edge of Tomorrow" extra difficult. But it did lend an immediate
sense of tactility to this world that you just wouldn't get if the exosuits were all digital.
Throughout "Edge of Tomorrow," both the film's protagonist and the audience are constantly
returning to a massive battle between humans and alien invaders on a beach. This expansive set
piece was always meant to be a big commitment on the part of the cast and crew. However,
that commitment was originally supposed to entail just two weeks. Instead,
it ended up going on and on for almost three months. The constant
delays stemmed from Liman improvising and making new stuff up as he went along.
As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, the movie's big beach scene was filmed on
a manmade location. This expansive set took a lot of effort to keep functioning over a solitary day,
let alone over multiple months. Having to keep this set in working order, not to mention Emily
Blunt almost breaking her nose during all this, meant that filming this battle sequence was a
trying experience unto itself. At least everyone involved can comfort themselves knowing that
all the blood, sweat, and tears did result in an immensely tangible sci-fi set piece.
"I'm glad we could work this out."
Before its release, "Edge of Tomorrow" was greeted with skepticism over how it would fare at the box
office. It wasn't an unreasonable stance to take given that "Tomorrow" was the rare non-sequel
blockbuster debuting in the summer of 2014, a season dominated by new "X-Men," "Planet of the
Apes," and "Transformers" sequels. On its domestic opening weekend, it didn't look like "Edge of
Tomorrow" would beat out the naysayers, with only a $28.8 million debut. On a $178 million budget,
"Edge of Tomorrow" needed to have a way bigger opening to put it on the road to profitability.
However, on its second domestic weekend, "Edge of Tomorrow" ended up holding quite nicely by
dipping just 43%, a much better than usual hold for a summer blockbuster. From there,
the film managed to have strong weekend-to-weekend dips in North America and eventually scored
$100.2 million in this territory and $367 million worldwide. While not a super profitable venture,
"Edge of Tomorrow" did manage to do better than expectations thanks to good word-of-mouth. Plus,
it gave Cruise his first star vehicle outside of the "Mission:
Impossible" franchise to crack $100 million domestically since "War of the Worlds." Warner
Bros. doubtlessly wanted "Edge of Tomorrow" to do more in its global box office run,
but there was still plenty to gloat about regarding how much money this title took in.
Not long after "Edge of Tomorrow" first touched down in movie theaters,
news broke that a sequel was in the works. A few months after this first reveal, screenwriters were
hired to pen a script for "Edge of Tomorrow 2," and Doug Liman was confirmed to be directing the
prospective project. By the time May 2017 rolled around, Liman had confirmed that this sequel would
be called "Live Die Repeat and Repeat" and that Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt were excited about the
project. With all these positive developments, not to mention enthusiasm from all the key
creative participants of "Edge of Tomorrow," it looked like this sequel was full steam ahead.
But as the years went on, an "Edge of Tomorrow" sequel seemed to be slipping
further and further out of grasp. Liman was much more uncertain on whether or not it would
ever happen by January 2021. Blunt seemed to put the nail in the sequel's coffin in
February 2022 by stating that a prospective follow-up would be too expensive to ever go
forward. Even though it doesn't seem like an "Edge of Tomorrow 2" has been officially axed,
it's also looking more and more unlikely that it'll happen with each passing day.