Back in 2008, the Matt Reeves-directed and JJ Abrams-produced movie Cloverfield became an instant piece of pop culture intrigue, with a teaser trailer letting us know that something, of entirely unknown origin, was destroying New York. Helping to solidify the era of ‘found footage’ thrillers and horror movies, Cloverfield was a masterstroke of movie-industry marketing, coming out of nowhere and building up incredible hype and hauling in nearly $180m off the back of a $25m budget. And now they’ve only gone and done it again.
In this day and age, dropping an entirely produced album or music video without tipping anyone on the 24/7 online media cycle off is impressive, but it appears no one, bar Paramount executives and the cast and crew of 10 Cloverfield Lane, knew anything about the movie before its trailer debuted before screenings of Michael Bay’s new thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
Entertainment site Collider relayed a statement from director JJ Abrams, whose Star Wars movie is on course to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, who once again produces this unanticipated addition to the Cloverfield franchise.
"The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible."
Originally produced under the titles The Cellar and Valencia, the Bad Robot feature stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr, and is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, making his debut.
The film has been described not as a direct sequel to the found-footage original, but that the events that take place on screen exist within the same universe. The film is set for release on March 11th, so expect two months of fan theories and trailer analysis of every frame in the meantime. You can watch the trailer for the film below:
