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Edge of Tomorrow Sequel Hires Its Writers — Does This Have Significance for Legend of Tarzan 2?

ERBDOM, Legend of Tarzan (Movie), Legend of Tarzan 2

Okay, maybe it’s a stretch to see this connection — but maybe not. Deadline Hollywood is reporting the following:

 Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse have been tapped to write the sequel to Tom Cruise and Doug Liman’s sci-fi sleeper hit Edge Of Tomorrow. The original film, also starring a buffed-up Emily Blunt, was a surprise and pleasure for many genre fans with its time-bending narrative and stylish chemistry between its leads. Although a slow opener domestically, it eventually hit $100 million in the U.S. More importantly, it was a bone fide smash internationally, grossing a further $270 million or so to make the case for a sequel pretty compelling.

Why is this possibly relevant to consideration of a Legend of Tarzan sequel?

Well, let’s line it up side by side with Legend of Tarzan.

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 4.56.28 PM

 

So . . . . .

First of all — it provides a strong argument that would allow any LOT “sequelista” to shout down the haters who say “no way” — clearly , it’s not completely out of the question.

Things in LOT’s favor —

  • Stronger domestic opening and domestic performance, where WB earns more than they do abroad.
  • A- Cinemascore means opening night audience (the only night they do cinemascore surveys) was stronger for LOT.

Things that could be used to argue against LOT —

  • Overall BOG is less and may not quite reach the magic “2x” muliplier.
  • RT Critics at 36% vs 91% for EOT …. that’s a huge difference.
  • Audience rating on RT @90% for EOT
  • Tom Cruise is  pushing EOT

Okay, I get it.  But still, all in all, this is good news. I’ll take it.

Doing a little more research, Cruise is quoted a year ago as saying this:

I pitched it to [Christopher] McQuarrie and [Edge of Tomorrowdirector] Doug [Liman]. We were there one night and I was like, ‘I’ve got an idea for it.’ … It could be so much fun. Gotta get Emily [Blunt]. I was like, ‘Emily, please.’ She was like, ‘Give me another year, please.’”

So, this points to something — Cruise “having an idea” and starting to push it is probably the main reason that EOT2 is going to happen.

Who will push LOT2?

Well . . . .  we’ll cross that bridge a little later.

For now, this is good news.

 

(Thanks to commenter CinemaConFan for tipping this.)

9 comments

  • Things in LOT’s favor —

    * Director David Yates wants to do this; Warner Bros. likes working with its director.

    BTW – I barely remembers Edge of Tomorrow and I saw it when it first came out!

  • LOT certainly does sit on the cusp of the great sequel divide. Perhaps if it gets outstanding numbers in VOD/DVD sales, Yate’s pushes it and they can figure out a smaller budget and a way to avoid the critcs booby traps ( and they are traps IMO,) we will get a sequel.

    Then there are always the hidden factors that go along with a studio reeling from the impact of critical scorn for its recent DC comic book launch. From what I can tell, WB is not responding well, at this time. In a knee jerk reaction to critical scorn, they are interfering too much with the filmakers’ vision for films that were already in progress when the panic attack started Suicide Sauad,which may have been fine, if it had been left to Ayers’ original dark vision became a mish mash of zany comedic attempts and incomprehensible character developement, leaving on the cutting room floor most of the Joker’s sequences along with most the squad members’ character developement ,which left only Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn as the focus of attention. I’m concerned that ,as I speak, Wonder Woman is going through the same process. As far as I know Gal Gadot does not have a light hearted comic range but Chris Pine does. So, that film is in danger of becoming too focused on his character as the filmakers attempts to satisfy the studios new urgency to be funny. My fear is that if a decision to do a LOT sequel is made.before WB rights it’s DC ship, Tarzan will be made into a funny man ( Skarsgard has the comedic range to do this) or a sequel will be rejected on the basis of Yates’ unwillingness to turn his vision of Tarzan into a lighthearted ,wise cracking fool. Maybe it’s best if no push is made at this time and LOT is left to gather momentum in the video streaming world/ DVD world for the next year or so while WB gathers its senses and calms down.

    Meanwhile, it will be interesting to watch the progress of the planned Allen Quartermsin franchise with Chris Hemsworth which faces the same kind of potential headwinds LOT faced. Quartermsin is a gun toting big game hunter firmly entrenched with colonialist ideas and leanings, Maybe,they need to move him out of Arica into the Amazon and surround him with the degenerated remants of the Mayan,Incan and Aztec civilizations. No one seems to care, in the recent PC frenzy, about the white European colonialist and his effects on those indigenous people and those resources. The white savior trope and racism charges seem only to ignite when Africa and the fate of black people is evoked. Quartermain, of course,can not remain a big game hunter or be seen to hint or kill animals at all. Instead his adventures will have to center around treasure hunting and lost civilizations. Plenty of that to be found along the Amazon and its surrounding landscape.

    • My fear is that if a decision to do a LOT sequel is made.before WB rights it’s DC ship, Tarzan will be made into a funny man ( Skarsgard has the comedic range to do this) or a sequel will be rejected on the basis of Yates’ unwillingness to turn his vision of Tarzan into a lighthearted ,wise cracking fool. Maybe it’s best if no push is made at this time and LOT is left to gather momentum in the video streaming world/ DVD world for the next year or so while WB gathers its senses and calms down.

      I agree completely. I think it’s “lie low” time . . . . I want to see how Yates gets reviewed for Fantastic Beasts . . . .just because I’m pretty sure that at this particular moment, taking another bite out of the Tarzan apple probably doesn’t seem very appealing to him. Who wants to get kicked around like that once, much less twice? On the other hand, if Fantastic Beasts is well reviewed, then he may feel more like a fighter who lost his first bout with a rival, and wants a rematch to set the record straight.

      That also gives us more time to figure out a strategy for any future story. Haha …not that we have a say, but we do, sort of….I’m thinking about formulating Ten Commandments for a Tarzan film that neutralizes the social justice warrior critics and leaves them cooing in delight . . . . 😉

    • So in response to the DC commentary, I enjoyed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad…although I definitely realize they have problems. I think Man of Steel is an AMAZING movie though. My feeling is that Wonder Woman does NOT have problems behind the scenes at the moment…I also think this will be the first post-Dark Knight trilogy DC movie that is a true “slam dunk” with critics, DC fans, and general audiences…and will also be successful at the box office. Captain America: The First Avenger is my favorite Marvel movie (from any studio that holds rights to make Marvel films) thus far. Cap 1 is a WW2 movie and Wonder Woman come June 2017 will be a WW1 movie…so both are period war films….so personally I’m very excited….and then come July 2017 Chris Nolan has an epic WW2 movie coming out called Dunkirk! Warner Brothers is going to have a great year at the box office in 2017…I think they might even beat Disney’s total 2017 grosses.

      Anyway, if you’re interested, check out this brief video showing that there is hope for the DC universe:

      Problems But Hope For The DC Cinematic Universe – From Film HQ
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E1ByobN7Ic

      And then, back to Tarzan, I watched an interview on YouTube with David Yates promoting the film recently and thinks he would come back to be a producer on a Tarzan sequel if there is one, but he also thought that he probably wouldn’t direct it. I think he realizes now that possibly the only chance of a LOT sequel happening is if he directs it. I don’t see WB greenlighting LOT otherwise, but if Yates refuses to direct, I certainly hope a Tarzan sequel happens regardless.

    • WB’s antsiness about their tentpoles worries me, so in this case it’s probably a good thing that even if a LOT sequel happens, it would hopefully happen after WB stops freaking out about the DCEU and stops interfering so much that they ruin the product.
      As for LOT, I agree, I don’t want a jokey Tarzan, it would start to go back into the cheeseball area that undermined the original character.
      I think, money-wise, WB is in that area where they probably aren’t going to outright discard the idea. But yes, with no JW to push for it, any push is going to have to come from Yates in some form.
      I did not know that Sony had plans for a Allan Quatermain franchise, and had to Google. Apparently this is from November 2015 and the original source is a pretty obscure site (to me). Having not seen anything new since then, especially since Hemsworth has now been the lead in two more flops, plus it’s an even lesser known literary character than Tarzan, I think Sony’s probably put this one back on the shelf.
      As for Edge of Tomorrow/Die Another Die, I enjoyed it a lot. Which doesn’t mean I wanted a sequel, but will see what they come up with.

      • Interesting about Allan Quartermsin and Hemsworth since I got the information from Chris Hemsworth’s IMDb page. It’s been removed since I posted. Seems you are tight and Sony dropped the project. Maybe the PC flak from LOT had something to do with it. Also, as you say,Hemsworth’s picures ,aside from Thor,haven’t done well.

        • The Hemsworth story came from the Tracking Board which is a site that deals with specs scripts and ‘insider’ stuff. I have no idea how accurate it is. I’m presuming that Sony does have a spec script on Quatermain and liked it, and having just worked with Hemsworth on Ghostbusters threw his name out there as a possibility. Reading between the lines of the article it was probably just in the development stage anyway. With Hemsworth not currently being able to carry a movie outside of Marvel, and Sony not having that great of a year, it’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.
          I think LOT’s getting thisclose to 350 worldwide shows there’s still a market for the old-fashioned type of action-adventure movies, if done well. And not having too much perceived social baggage.

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