Tom Cruise Fights Endless Battle in ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

Tom Cruise finds himself in an endless battle over and over and can succeed only by employing a most implausible strategy: Live. Die. Repeat, in Warner Bros. Pictures’ new sci-fi action adventure, “Edge of Tomorrow.”

Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.

But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

Cage’s unusual situation stems from his first—and seemingly last—battle with an alien. He quickly loses, and should lose his life, but has the unique ability to “reset” the day, waking once again in the exact location, at the exact moment, he did that morning. Justifiably, utterly confused, Cage can’t understand why no one else seems to be aware of the horrific events that already happened. Rather, they are prepping for the very fight they unknowingly have already lost.

Cruise says he was intrigued by these wholly unforeseen, highly undesirable circumstances and the way his character reacts to them. “The structure of the story and the way the time loop works allow the audience to come in, understand the rules, and then go right along with Cage on a constant accelerative progression. Even though he is living the same day over and over, it never feels the same because his behavior always changes; he always moves the action forward.”

Director Doug Liman expands, “Everybody else is going to keep doing the same thing; the only thing Cage has control over are his own actions.”

Cruise relished creating a real anti-hero, the ultimate underdog, a soldier with no possible means of surviving—let alone completing—his mission, and no real desire to. “Cage was a really fun character to play,” he says. “He’s in the military, but he’s not really a military guy; he’s the talking heads’ face of the war and he’s not the least bit heroic. In fact, he’s not even a reluctant hero, he’s a coward who’ll say anything to get out of the fight. And now he has to live through this bloody battle over and over. Every time he wakes up, his worst nightmare begins again.”

“Unlike Cage, Tom is fearless,” Liman says. “He will try anything, do anything. He threw himself into the part even when his character was being humiliated or killed in some crazy way. He cared so much about the movie and worked so hard, that in and of itself was inspiring to everyone around him.”

“I’ve wanted to work with Doug for a long time,” Cruise offers. “His films always have the kind of character journey that I enjoy. He’s able to maintain a tone and an intensity that keep you invested, and he imbues the drama or the action with a buoyancy and a tremendous amount of humanity and humor. I like to put everything of myself into my work and he does as well, making it great fun to collaborate with him every day.”

“Tom brings an unparalleled amount of effort and energy to his work,” producer Ewrin Stoff says. “He has great chops and true athletic ability, and he comes with a full 360 degree view of how movies are made.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 5, “Edge of Tomorrow” will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.