Now that Christopher McQuarrie is currently gearing up to direct Tom Cruise in two more Mission Impossible films that will definitely not be sending Ethan Hunt to the moon, the filmmaker is a very busy man. But that doesn’t mean he’s occasionally spending the occasional bits of free time on Twitter, where the director regularly comments on his own films and whatever else he happens to be watching. So, when a discussion of Ghostbusters‘ internal logic led to time travel, McQuarrie offered a brief bit of trivia about 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow.
An adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s science-fiction novel All You Need Is Kill, which McQuarrie co-wrote with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth for director Doug Liman, the film follows Cruise and Emily Blunt’s characters in a battle that pits humanity against time-traveling alien invaders. Sure, it’s not the simplest of premises, but it’s enough to get things moving — or, at least McQuarrie thought. Warner Bros., however, wanted more. Per IndieWire, he said a scene of exposition concerning the aliens was demanded in studio notes.
https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/1147994979769430017
The Wolverine and Logan writer/director James Mangold added to McQuarrie’s thesis by comparing it to the basic logic of the alien in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
The Alien in “Alien” did not feel generic cause it had character and personality, predominantly defined by its ruthless killing efficiency. It didn’t need explanation. We understood it & it did not feel generic. It was a shatteringly original creature in its purity of purpose.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) July 7, 2019
Though, eventually, it all came back to time travel for McQuarrie.
https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/1148016925181657089
(Via IndieWire)
