2014’s Edge of Tomorrow proved a hit with audiences and critics upon release, but just how many times does Tom Cruise’s protagonist Major William Cage die in the sci-fi action spectacular? A sequel to the time-loop sci-fi movie is in production with Cruise and co-star Emily Blunt expected to return and go through the mill of being killed over and over again once more.
Directed by Mr. And Mrs. Smith helmer Doug Liman, Edge of Tomorrow is a sci-fi action thriller which sees Tom Cruise’s PR officer thrown out of his depth and into the middle of a mainland European alien invasion, only to repeatedly die when being exposed to the alien’s blood leaves him immortal but not incapable of messily dying before each revival. The film is also known by the alternative title Live.Die.Repeat and more than lives up to its moniker.
Much of the film’s action and humor comes from Cruise’s reluctant soldier being forced to train up and start utilizing this ability to fight the alien foes. Soon Cruise is in a Groundhog Day-style loop, getting closer to his goal of defeating the invaders with each death. But how many times does the film kill him off altogether? According to most estimates, Tom Cruise’s Cage dies a disturbing twenty-six times during the run time of Edge of Tomorrow.
The film’s source material, a light novel entitled All You Need Is Kill, mentions that the character dies over three hundred times during the course of his mission, but the movie is different. In terms of on-screen offings, viewers are only privy to ten of love interest Rita’s deaths and twenty-six of Cage’s, with five taking place on the beach, sixteen in various stages of training, and the final five forming his successful attempt at defeating the Mimics.
That’s a lot of on-screen demises for one character, but a break down does make sense of the seemingly implausible number. First of all, it’s important to note that Cruise’s character is killed ten times in quick succession during one training montage, which is played for some grim laughs. Edge of Tomorrow can’t resist the allure of a comical string of deaths packed into a minute’s runtime, a lot like fellow genre-blending time-loop movie Happy Death Day, So when Emily Blunt’s hard-ass Sergeant drills Cruise to death over and over, this scene alone accounts for ten deaths. Meanwhile the first beach landings, wherein Cage has no combat experience and no hope of survival, amount to another five.
Various attempts to reach the dam account for the next sixth deaths after training, meaning there are only five are of real consequence to the plot. And of course, these are the last five deaths, taking place in the pub, the chopper, the dam, the general, and finally Cage’s heroic self-sacrifice at the Louvre. So it’s a total of twenty-six deaths for poor Major William Cage before he finally comes out on top (provided Edge of Tomorrow 2 doesn’t undo all his hard work, that is).
