Christopher McQuarrie is a lot more cautious about the development of possible sequel as Warner Bros. faced tough time marketing the original 'Edge of Tomorrow'.
- Aug 11, 2015
AceShowbiz - Christopher McQuarrie told Uproxx that he was convinced by Tom Cruise that a sequel to "Edge of Tomorrow" was a great idea. But he's a lot more cautious about the development of possible sequel as Warner Bros. faced tough time marketing the first movie.
" 'Edge of Tomorrow' was so hard and was so draining," he shared, "When we went out to dinner when we were making 'Mission' and Tom said, 'I have an idea for the sequel to 'Edge', and I said, 'I don't want to f***ing hear it. I do not want to know!' And he pitched the idea to me and he finished pitching it, I was like, 'Goddammit, why did you do that?' "
However, the "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" director said a marketing team would be needed to package the possible sequel. "It all comes down to Warner Bros. and Doug Liman and Emily Blunt saying yes," he explained, "The idea is there. At worst, it's the kernel of an idea - which is, on one hand, great, but on the other hand, I know what a nightmare that is. I know that I'll be in the void trying to figure that out."
"And even then when it came out in the press after Tom had mentioned it, right away, there were people on social media saying, 'Don't do it, it should never have a sequel, etc., etc.' And I'm just laughing because I'm like, 'You guys don't even know what we are talking about! You have no idea!' " Christopher added, "Look, that was one of the best creative teams I've ever worked with as far as a team of rivals: Emily is one facet of that; Doug Liman is a completely different and opposing force; Tom Cruise is another. And there I am in the middle, just playing to these three really strong, really smart people."
Christopher noted how he would change his approach with the follow-up. "What I've learned, having made 'Mission', is what I would write into the movie to make that movie an easier sell. 'Edge of Tomorrow' was incredibly difficult to market," he said, before explaining, "From the look of the film to the title of the film, whatever the title was, whether it was 'All You Need Is Kill' or 'Edge of Tomorrow' - and God help us figuring out what the title of the sequel is. 'The Edge of the Day After Tomorrow'? I don't know."
"But the humor in the film took a good 35 minutes to really dawn on you - the movie really sneaks up on you and takes this sudden left turn. The movie didn't have the moments that a trailer needs to tell you, 'This is the experience you're going to have,' " he continued. " 'Edge of Tomorrow' didn't have a presence on social media until the weekend it came out, then people go, 'Oh my God, it's really good' ... it was too little, too late."
Tom previously revealed during an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" that he had an idea for a sequel to "Edge of Tomorrow". "I pitched it to McQuarrie and Doug," Suri's father told Jon Stewart, "We were there one night and I was like, I've got an idea for it." He added that he had approached Emily to return for the second one and she responded with "give me another year, please."
