Ten Years On, Emily Blunt Sequel Moves Forward After Big Netflix Premiere

An Emily Blunt science fiction movie sequel may be closer to getting the green light after the original makes a huge debut on the world’s most popular streaming service.

Discussion surrounding Edge of Tomorrow 2 has been mounting over the last decade, but just why hasn’t a sequel to the 2014 sleeper hit been made?

Edge of Tomorrow (2014), helmed by Doug Liman, is an ambitious sci-fi action film based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s 2004 Japanese novel “All You Need Is Kill.”

Liman’s time travel movie tells the story of Major William “Bill” Cage (Tom Cruise), a military officer trapped in a time loop where he relives the same battle against an alien force, gaining the ability to “reset” each time he dies.

Emily Blunt co-starred as Sergeant Rita Vrataski, a fearless warrior who once shared William Cage’s time-looping ability, guiding him through his endless cycle of death and rebirth. Bill Paxton and Brendon Gleeson also star as Master Sergeant Farell and General Brigham, respectively.

The film’s unique blend of Groundhog Day-style narrative and high-octane alien warfare made it stand out from the usual summer blockbusters despite undergoing several rewrites before making it to the big screen.

The film’s original title was the same as its novel inspiration, but Warner Bros. eventually changed it. The studio said this was due, in part, to the word “kill” in the title, while Doug Liman felt that it did not represent the movie he had made. WB later rejected Liman’s choice of “Live Die Repeat” for the title, opting to use it for the tagline only.

Despite a modest opening, Edge of Tomorrow ultimately grossed over $370 million worldwide, becoming a sleeper hit. It was widely praised for its innovative plot, gripping action, and standout performances from Cruise and Blunt, and audiences seemingly connected with the film’s sharp storytelling and clever mix of sci-fi and action tropes.

Talks of a sequel, tentatively titled Live Die Repeat and Repeat–a play on the original movie’s tagline–have been circulating for years. While Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, and Doug Liman have all expressed interest in returning, the project has faced repeated delays, leaving fans eagerly awaiting any news of Cage and Vrataski’s return to the battlefield.

But all hope is not lost.

Last year, during the press tour for Christopher Nolan’s future Academy Award-winner Oppenheimer (2023), Emily Blunt disclosed to Josh Horowitz of Happy Sad Confused that Doug Liman had slipped her a script for Edge of Tomorrow 2. The actress hoped it would one day be greenlit but didn’t know “when or how” it would happen. Watch here:

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Since that interview, nothing substantial has surfaced regarding the potential Edge of Tomorrow 2. In January 2024, WB and Tom Cruise entered into a large-scale contractual partnership, with information also being shared about talks between WB’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy and Cruise to develop an Edge of Tomorrow sequel.

Now, new interest has ignited following the 2014 movie’s arrival on Netflix.

As The Direct notes, Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow reached lofty heights on the Netflix streaming charts following its bow on September 7.

“[T]he 2014 action flick hit #3 on the U.S. Top 10 Movie Charts on September 8 and then climbed to #2 on September 9,” the outlet noted.

This rising interest in the Cruise and Blunt sci-fi epic on streaming may give Warner Bros. executives, director Doug Liman, and the first movie’s writers Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth more to consider when it comes to developing a sequel to the sci-fi movie.

At one point, an Edge of Tomorrow TV series was seemingly in the works at Warner Bros. with plans for release on the company’s streaming service, HBO Max (now, just Max). The news of the TV show’s development was uncovered during a lawsuit launched by Village Roadshow Films against Warner Bros.

Village Roadshow, who co-financed and co-produced Edge of Tomorrow with Warner Bros, sued the studio over the release strategy for 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections. It was in section 20 of the lawsuit, as reported by Screen Rant, that it was revealed that an Edge of Tomorrow-inspired TV series was in the works.

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As for its co-leads, Tom Cruise will return to play Ethan Hunt in the eighth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise sometime in 2025, following last year’s Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).

Emily Blunt will star in A24’s The Smashing Machine (2025), where she plays the former wife of MMA and wrestler Mark Kerr, Dawn Staples. Blunt’s Jungle Cruise (2021) co-star Dwayne Johnson plays Kerr.

Are you hoping to see an Edge of Tomorrow sequel soon? Let us know in the comments down below!