Tom Cruise's Underrated Sci-Fi Movie That Holds 91% On RT Needs A Sequel 10 Years Later (2024)

Although it has been 10 years since this underrated Tom Cruise sci-fi movie first premiered and earned a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it still deserves a sequel. Despite being one of the highest grossing stars in Hollywood, Tom Cruise has seen his share of highs and lows in his acting career. While some of his films have been critically panned but received incredibly well at the box office, others have garnered incredible reviews but remained relatively less profitable.

Falling in the latter category, a Tom Cruise sci-fi movie premiered nearly a decade ago and earned rave reviews from viewers and critics. However, despite its critical success, the film was not as big of a hit at the box office as it was expected to be. Still, its follow-up has been in the talks for ages, making it hard not to wonder if it will ever see the light of the day.

Edge Of Tomorrow Is Tom Cruise's Best Sci-Fi Movie

Minority Report Arguably Comes Close

In a career spanning over four decades, Tom Cruise has starred in many sci-fi movies. While some of these films, like War of the Worlds and Oblivion, struggled to leave their mark, others, like Minority Report and Vanilla Sky, still have high rewatch value. Since Tom Cruise has delivered many sci-fi hits, it may be unfair to label one as his definitive best. However, the kind of loopy adventure, alien lore, and comical action Edge of Tomorrow brings to the table easily makes it a standout film for him in the genre.

Vanilla Sky is no less fascinating with its ideas and twists, but its inclination towards romance more than sci-fi and comparisons with the original Spanish movie it adapts rank it slightly below Edge of Tomorrow. War of the Worlds was helmed by the incredibly talented Steven Spielberg and featured a stellar cast including Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, and Tim Robbins. Unfortunately, despite having the potential to become one of Cruise's best sci-fi films, it was hampered by its lack of fresh ideas and uneven pacing.

Minority Report gives Edge of Tomorrow a run for its money. In terms of influence and innovativeness, Minority Report even beats Edge of Tomorrow in more ways than one. However, Edge of Tomorrow is easily more entertaining because its sci-fi concepts are accessible yet interesting, and its war-centric action effectively keeps viewers at the edge of their seats. Since Tom Cruise is often perceived as a daredevil because of his daunting stuntwork and characterization in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Edge of Tomorrow also gives a glimpse of his action range by portraying him as a hilariously cowardly hero.

Why Edge Of Tomorrow 2 Should Happen

The First Film Leaves Enough Room For A Follow-Up

The first Edge of Tomorrow film has a conclusive ending where Tom Cruise's Major William Cage saves the day by destroying the Omega and reuniting with Vrataski. Vrataski seems oblivious to his identity because Cruise's character gets time-looped back to the base operation after completing his mission. However, the closing arc still seems conclusive enough to give audiences closure despite having some logical inconsistencies. While this makes it hard not to wonder what a sequel could be about, the first movie's alien lore and time-loop trope leave enough room for many new ideas.

Doug Liman once revealed (via Collider) that "Edge of Tomorrow 2 is a sequel that’s a prequel," which could mean that the film could explore Vrataski's efforts to end the war as a looper before she met Cage. Using forward-jumping time loops as a narrative device, the sequel could connect Vrataski's backstory to the first film's events, adding new layers of time-traveling madness to the franchise's narrative. Since the first Edge of Tomorrow movie was based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's book, All You Need Is Kill, the second movie would adopt an original storyline, making it even more exciting and novel.

With the opportunity to explore many narrative avenues with its time-loop trope, Edge of Tomorrow 2 could be as successful as the first film (if not more). It could even mark the inception of a new action franchise for Tom Cruise after Mission: Impossible. Emily Blunt could also benefit from having another gripping post-apocalyptic movie franchise under her belt after her success with the A Quiet Place movies.

Will Edge Of Tomorrow 2 Ever Actually Happen?

Its Future Remains Uncertain

Although Edge of Tomorrow 2's production was initially gaining some momentum and Doug Liman had also prepared its script, the film has sadly remained in development hell for years. Emily Blunt read its script and teased that it had great ideas, which promised Edge of Tomorrow 2 could be a worthy sequel that builds upon its predecessor's success. Doug Liman, too, recently gave some positive updates surrounding Edge of Tomorrow 2 by revealing how Warner Bros. is "constantly" asking him if he plans to revisit the franchise.

However, given how Liman is busy with several other upcoming projects and will also helm the sequel to Amazon's widely successful Road House remake, it seems uncertain when he will have time to revisit the Edge of Tomorrow franchise. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are also a part of several upcoming big-budget projects, which could lead to scheduling issues for the movie's filming. Hopefully, Edge of Tomorrow 2's production will take off soon and eventually pave the way for a full-fledged sci-fi franchise.

Edge of Tomorrow

PG-13

Sci-Fi

Action

Thriller

Adventure

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

• stream
• rent
• buy

Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow follows Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), who finds himself drafted into humanity's ongoing war against a seemingly unstoppable race of hostile aliens called Mimics. Cage is killed in combat, but wakes in a time loop, reliving the same battle day after day. Gradually, he realizes that if he teams up with the decorated war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), he can exploit the time loop to defeat the Mimic army and save the human race.

Director

Doug Liman

Release Date

June 6, 2014

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Writers

John-Henry Butterworth , Christopher McQuarrie , Jez Butterworth

Cast

Emily Blunt , Tom Cruise

Runtime

1h 53m

Sequel(s)

Edge of Tomorrow 2

Budget

178 million