He was also a part of the writing and/or producing team on the Cruise films Valkyrie (2008), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), The Mummy (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), the last of which received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

It starred Benicio del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, Taye Diggs, and James Caan.

[9] Eight years later, McQuarrie co-wrote (with Nathan Alexander) and co-produced Valkyrie, which opened on December 25, 2008, and is based on the real-life July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

[13] McQuarrie co-wrote the 2010 film The Tourist with Julian Fellowes, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

[17] In 2012, McQuarrie stepped in to rewrite the script for World War Z after Drew Goddard and Damon Lindelof left the film.

[20][21] McQuarrie co-wrote the 2014 science fiction action thriller Edge of Tomorrow with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, based on the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill.

It received strong reviews, grossed over US$195 million at the North American box office, and won a Golden Tomato for Best Action-Adventure Movie of 2015.

[22] McQuarrie and screenwriter Dylan Kussman were commissioned by Tom Cruise to write a new script for The Mummy.

It received strong reviews from critics, and grossed over $791 million worldwide, becoming the franchise's highest-grossing title.

[35][36][37] In August 2022, McQuarrie announced on the Light the Fuse podcast that he was developing a new project with Tom Cruise, to be co-written by Erik Jendresen, which he claimed would be "gnarlier" than the Mission: Impossible films and described as being "something we've talked about for a really long time.

[39] Although the Reacher franchise has migrated to television, McQuarrie and Cruise are continuing to develop a Reacher-like thriller film.