'Edge Of Tomorrow' Sequel Will Explain The First Film's Horrible Ending
Edge of Tomorrow is easily one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. But unfortunately it's plagued by low box office numbers and an ending that undercut the rest of the movie. But hopefully the movie's strong afterlife on home video and the promise of a sequel (whatever terrible name it's saddled with) will fix both of these things.
Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, who is expected to be heavily involved in the sequel, promises that we'll see the Edge of Tomorrow ending explained in the follow-up.
A quick refresher: The Edge of Tomorrow ended with Rita (Emily Blunt) being killed by an Alpha in the fight against the Omega in the Louvre after Cage (Tom Cruise) had lost his ability to reset the day. Her death buys time for Cage to swim down and drop grenades on the Omega, killing it and all the other mimics with it. In the process Cage dies and gets some of the Omega blood on him, causing him to wake again at an earlier point in time, with the war won and the mimics still dead. He meets Rita for the first time again, and we cut to the credits, complete with the poor choice of a closing song that is "Love Me Again" by John Newman:
It's a happy Hollywood ending that makes no damn sense, as /Film's David Chen eloquently says. Why does he go back to earlier point in the timeline? How are mimics still dead if Cage goes back in time because of Omega blood? Wouldn't the Omega power to reset the day be defunct if the Omega itself were dead? Up until now, Edge of Tomorrow was a tightly constructed time travel movie, sitting nicely within the video game-like limits of one repeating day. With these nonsensical time travel mechanics introduced in the ending, the movie almost falls apart. Worst of all, it undercuts the emotional stakes of losing Rita in the final fight.
The movie originally ended on a much more somber note, McQuarrie had previously said. In fact, he had wanted an ending so confusing that it would have the audiences questioning, 'Did the movie even happen? Did any of this really happen?' but that idea was tossed for a more comedic, light-hearted tone.
McQuarrie, who was holding a Q&A on Twitter was naturally asked about the Edge of Tomorrow sequel — which is currently going by the title Live Die Repeat and Repeat, a reference to its original title Live Die Repeat — and cleared up some questions about the first film's confusing ending.
Edge of Tomorrow was based on the novel called All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sazurazaka, and went on to become a huge critical success, if not a box office one, only grossing $370.5 million worldwide. But the massive following it gained after its release has given way to talks for a sequel, with both Cruise and Blunt set to return, as well as director Doug Liman. McQuarrie is not writing the sequel, but is still heavily involved.Live Die Repeat and Repeat does not currently have a release date.