Is Warner Bros. Quietly Working On An Edge Of Tomorrow TV Show?
Things just got interesting when it comes to the future of "Edge of Tomorrow." As sci-fi fans are surely aware, the Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt flick from 2014 proved to be quite the satisfying ride and, ever since, there have been plans to get a sequel going that never quite materialized, though the team never stopped trying to make it happen. Now, we have word that Warner Bros. seems to be attempting to turn the property into a TV show rather than make a sequel, which has caused issues with Village Roadshow, the production company that co-produced/co-financed the original film with Warner Bros.
Also a fight over a TV series based on this beloved Tom Cruise movie... pic.twitter.com/AAwM4Tmxbq
— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) February 7, 2022
As pointed out by Eriq Gardner on Twitter (above), Village Roadshow recently filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. relating to the release of "The Matrix Resurrections," one of the movies it co-financed with the studio. The box office results were disastrous and the decision to release the movie on HBO Max on the same day it hit theaters didn't help matters. Now, a lawsuit is attempting to straighten things out. But The Wall Street Journal reveals that this goes far deeper than just one movie. Mark Holscher, a Kirkland & Ellis litigation partner who represents Village Roadshow, had this to say.
"Warner Bros. has a fiduciary duty to account to Village Roadshow for all earnings from the exploitation of the films' copyrights, not just those it can't hide through sweetheart deals to benefit HBO Max."
So yes, this news is making its way out into the world under particularly ugly circumstances. That having been said, the notion of turning this franchise into a big-budget TV show is a potentially fascinating prospect. And, given how uncertain things continue to be at the box office, a streaming release of some kind might make more sense from the studio's perspective. That is, assuming the legal business can be sorted out to everyone's satisfaction.
The Ugly Business Of Streaming
The fact of the matter is that every studio in town has prioritized streaming and the business of getting enough subscribers to become profitable is a long, ugly game. This lawsuit is offering a peek behind the curtain into just how ugly that can get. Not to mention that this all comes as WarnerMedia is attempting to merge with Discovery to form a new massive, multimedia conglomerate.
In terms of the "Edge of Tomorrow" TV show itself goes there are many questions left hanging. What might that look like? Would it just be the planned story for the sequel repurposed for TV? Could a TV show afford to get both Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise on board? Would it move on without them? At the moment we have far more questions than answers but in any outcome, it demonstrates the importance of streaming in the modern era. Either pay big bucks to get Cruise and Blunt on board, or sacrifice a big sequel starring two A-listers for the sake of a TV show. It's a wild world we live in.
We'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the potential project come to light.