Director Doug Liman has done what very few directors have ever done, which is kill Tom Cruise – more than once, in fact. He did it over and over again in 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, and once more for good measure in 2017’s American Made. Liman is so trigger happy in fact, that he even tried to kill of Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne in the first of the Bourne spy movies.
In a 2017 interview in Uproxx, Liman discussed developing another script and he said to Cruise, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if your character dies on the moon?” And Cruise very bluntly replied, “Well, not if you want the movie to make any money.” According to Liman; “There was no ego in it.” He was just like; “If you kill Tom Cruise at the end of your movie, here’s what it does to your box office. It’s just a fact.”
Liman did note though that; “I’ve never actually made a movie with Tom Cruise where I have not killed him. But I think that, honestly, part of what makes our relationship special is that sort of I see the value in killing Tom Cruise.” If you want to see Cruise die over and over, check out time travel movie Edge of Tomorrow.
Liman continued; “Matt Damon and I talked about killing Jason Bourne at the end of The Bourne Identity. We were like no one will see that coming! And obviously, we decided not to do that. But it wasn’t even about the sequel. It was just, would it be satisfying to the audience?”
The Bourne action movie series continued with Supremacy (2004) and Ultimatum (2007). Then Jeremy Renner tried his hand at the character in Legacy (2012), before Damon returned in 2016’s Jason Bourne.
Check out our guide to the best thriller movies.