When "Edge of Tomorrow" hit theaters, its massive critical praise didn't match up the box office dollars. With its $178 million budget, "Edge of Tomorrow" only earned $100 million at the domestic box office, for a $370 million worldwide total — not exactly a promising start if you want to kick off a blockbuster franchise.
Nevertheless, all the top dogs involved wanted to see a sequel happen. Speaking with MTV News in 2015, Tom Cruise revealed he'd pitched an idea for an "Edge of Tomorrow 2" to director Doug Liman and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, also confirming that Emily Blunt was interested in joining. A few months later, McQuarrie told Collider that the creative team had "the idea for the sequel locked and loaded."
However, the movie has had a hard time finding a script. In 2016, it was reported that "Rebecca" writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse would be penning the screenplay, with McQuarrie producing and helping the story along. Then, it was announced that Jez Butterworth (who co-wrote the original film) would be taking a stab at the script, with "The Invention of Lying" scribe Matthew Robinson writing yet another version in 2019.
Since then, director Doug Liman has given various statements about the screenplay. In 2019, he told ComicBookMovie.com that it was good to go. Then in 2021, Liman stepped back a bit when talking with Collider, saying it wasn't quite finished yet, but he thought the process would get fast-tracked if Cruise and Blunt said they were ready to rock. Of course, Cruise and Blunt have been pretty busy. For example, Cruise wanted to make the sequel in 2017, but Blunt was working on "Mary Poppins Returns." The leading man himself has also been caught up with the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, causing an "Edge of Tomorrow" sequel to stall out.
In short, it seems that all the major players just can't work out a script or their schedules. And perhaps most importantly, it seems that money might be a major factor...
