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‘Edge Of Tomorrow 2’ Update: Director Confirmed, New Writers Hired, But Who Dropped Out?

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 09:04 PST, Apr 9, 2016

Edge Of Tomorrow earned a staggering amount when it was released back in 2014, but it was hugely popular with critics and audiences that actually went to see it.

Its $370.5 million gross, from a $175 million budget, was also enough to convince Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel, too. Since the film’s release, Tom Cruise has been hard at work on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and Mena, while he’s also set to begin work on The Mummy.

But Tom Cruise still has big plans for expanding the Edge Of Tomorrow franchise. In fact, it’s now been revealed that Cruise has hired two new screenwriters to scribe the sequel while the director for the blockbuster has also been confirmed, and it’s not originally who moviegoers thought it would be.

Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse have been confirmed by Deadline as the writers for Edge Of Tomorrow. Waterhouse and Shrapnel had their first film greenlit and produced earlier this year when the Jesse Owens biopic Race, starring Stephan James and Jason Sudeikis, was released.

They also recently finished a rewrite of The Gray Man, which is based on the novel by Mark Greany, for Sony, and currently has Christopher McQuarrie attached to direct; the movie will star Charlize Theron.

It was also previously reported that Christopher McQuarrie would direct Edge Of Tomorrow 2. However, McQuarrie, who co-wrote the original Edge Of Tomorrow and has helped to develop the script for the follow-up, too, took to Twitter to deny that he is directing the blockbuster, and in the process revealed who actually is.

Doug Liman directed the original Edge Of Tomorrow, so it’s hardly surprising that he has been hired to do the same of the follow-up. Especially considering that the film was received so well by critics, which is proved by the fact that it currently has a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The website’s critic consensus said of the film, “Gripping, well-acted, funny, and clever, Edge Of Tomorrow offers entertaining proof that Tom Cruise is still more than capable of shouldering the weight of a blockbuster action thriller.”

Christopher McQuarrie, who is producing Edge Of Tomorrow 2, also took to Twitter to congratulate Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel for landing the opportunity to write the film.

Edge Of Tomorrow actually went on to gross $100 million domestically, which it slowly accrued after making the poor start of just $20.1 million in its opening weekend. But it was Edge Of Tomorrow’s international haul of $269 million that convinced Warner Bros. to develop the sequel.

Edge Of Tomorrow’s critical praise was the integral reason for the film’s longevity at the box office. But Waterhouse, Shrapnel, and McQuarrie now have quite the task on their hands to bring Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise’s characters back together after the original film was rounded off and tied up so tightly.

Obviously, Tom Cruise has quite a few projects on his hands to contend with. In addition to Mena, which he just finished shooting, and The Mummy, which just began filming earlier this month, Tom Cruise is also in talks with Jerry Bruckheimer to film a sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. However, while the follow-up is expected to be greenlit, we’re still not sure when it will actually be released.

[Image via Warner Bros]

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