New Trailer Reveals Cloverfield Sequel (of sorts)

Before this blog focused its attention on Star Wars, it started with the movie Cloverfield. In screening of Michael Bay's 13 Hours revealed that JJ Abrams secretly produced a sort of sequel to the movie called "10 Cloverfield Lane". The movie was filmed around two years ago by director Dan Trachtenberg with stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr. Judging by the trailer, the movie occurs concurrent to and just after the Cloverfield. In a statement to Collider, JJ Abrams said "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." Winstead offered a brief description of the film where her character wakes up in a bunker with a stranger (Goodman) saying "He tells me that basically the world is over outside because there’s been a nuclear fall-out. It does have similarity to Faults, in some ways, because you don’t know who’s telling the truth or who to believe. There’s a lot of, who’s manipulating who, and all of that. Tonally, it’s very different, but it has some of those same themes." Update: Added poster for movie.

Cloverfield Sequel Remains Grounded

While promoting The Cabin in the Woods, Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard provided an updated on the sequel. In short, nothing has changed. Everyone wants to do it but no real progress has been made due to other projects everyone is involved with. Unless Abrams' sells the rights for a direct to DVD movie, I would be surprised if a sequel ever happens.

“I wish I had a better answer (laughs), I wish I had an answer where it’s like, ‘Oh the sequel’s starting shooting at this time next year,’ but the truth is, these things take time.”

“I think if you asked J.J., Matt and I, we each have our own ideas of what we would want to do, which is kind of how the first Cloverfield worked, it was sort of a conversation between the three of us. I’ve certainly thought about it a lot and I think Matt said the same and J.J. said the same, we just haven’t got the three of us together in one room to figure out what we would want to do.”

Cloverfield 2 Still Possible

Matt Reeves, director of Cloverfield, has indicated that a sequel could still occur to Total Film. The movie, executive produced by JJ Abrams, was a monster movie that didn't really explain a darn thing about the monster. With JJ Abrams multiple TV series (5 I believe), Super 8, possibly Star Trek 2 and more I seriousily doubt there will be any movement on Cloverfield 2 until mid-2012.

"At the moment we are talking about the story quite a lot. Drew Goddard, who wrote the original, is going to pen the sequel and JJ Abrams is very much involved.

"However, the three of us have been so busy that getting the right idea together has been taking a long time."

But will the sequel shoot in real-time again? "You see, that's a difficult part: we want it to be shot like the first but how can you continue that idea successfully for a second time?

"We have a lot of affection for the original and the sequel can't just be the same thing. But that is tricky when you need to have a monster destroying stuff once again."

Cloverfield 2 Years Away

In an interview with MovieWeb, director Matt Reeves tells the site that a sequel to Cloverfield is probably years away.

"Cloverfield 2 will most likely not be the next movie because that's still in the really nascent stages. We haven't really had time to get together and talk about what that would be. That journey will probably be a bit longer, when we find that idea that we really get excited about. We're still hatching the story. It has yet to be hatched. It was funny. Someone said to me the other day, 'Yeah, we hear you're going to get the band back together.' I said, 'Yeah, but at this stage, we're just talking about getting the band back together. We actually haven't gotten the band back together.'

I really want to continue to press and try to make this smaller project that I've been trying to make since before Cloverfield. It's a project called The Invisible Woman. It's sort of a character thriller. It's the anatomy of this woman's desperation. It's the same sort of storytelling that I did in Let Me In. It's an intimate character story, so I'm excited to do that to. Probably what I would do is find the next project and find a way to marry that schedule to the bigger project. So, hopefully, we could do two in a row and then maybe Cloverfield 2."

Cloverfield was really a self contained movie that doesn't necessarily require a sequel unless the goal is to explain the creature which is 50/50 if Abrams is involved. The more time that passes, the less likely a sequel will be made. I would be really shocked if a sequel is ever made as I get the feeling that creatively Reeves, Abrams and the others are simply not interested and all have moved on in such a way that financially they don't have too make a sequel even if the studio wants it.

Cloverfield 2 Viral Video Tease? No

For whatever reason, multiple websites are running the below video suggesting it may be a teaser for Cloverfield 2. I don't know where that conclusion came from, I guess because they mimicked the filming and editing style of the movie to a degree with an ugly creature (or insect close-up) at the end. To my knowledge JJ Abrams has not begun any work on Cloverfield 2 and there currently is no script either.

Cloverfield 2 Still Possible

At a Star Trek panel at Wondercon '09, JJ Abrams confirmed that Cloverfield 2 is still on his radar.

Abrams was asked about CLOVERFIELD 2 and he said that the key to doing it was to make sure they were doing it because they have a creative need to do it and not make it as a business decision. They’re toying around with a couple ideas right now and he said if they lock it down and they’re as excited about it when they do as they are now then it’d happen. Right now, all he’d say is that the idea, if it comes to fruition, is “something that would be connected to Cloverfield.”

Reeves Talk Cloverfield Sequel

Cloverfield Director Matt Reeves spoke with MTV about the possibility of a sequel to Cloverfield. Essentially the idea of a sequel is still alive but just in the tossing around ideas stage with nothing concrete in motion.

“There are a couple ideas that have potential but we haven’t quite cracked it yet,” says Reeves who is juggling his orginal screenplay, “The Invisible Woman” and his remake of “Let the Right One In” among his future projects. Trying to pin down just what those “Cloverfield” sequel ideas are though is easier said than done. One thought was to return to the source of the inspiration for the film. “When we were in Japan we thought, wouldn’t it be cool to do it here,” he said.

One things seems certain. Don’t expect a traditional sequel picking up right after the first with the same (still living) characters. Rather the filmmakers behind the hit film have discussed a sequel that “wasn’t necessarily right after that night but had intersections with the original.”

Then there’s the possibility that Reeves might not direct the sequel at all. Muck like Danny Boyle did for “28 Weeks Later,” Reeves said “There was the thought that maybe we’d bring in some young exciting people and we’d produce their take.”

“I don’t know at this point,” Reeves said. “I think if we find something that would be incredibly fun to make and that we would want to watch then that’s what would push it over the top. It’s a weird puzzle.”

Abrams Talks Fringe, Cloverfield, and Trek

JJ Abrams spoke with BBC's Chris Moyles and discussed his various projects including Fringe, Cloverfield and Star Trek. The full 37 minutes video is here but here are the Star Trek related highlights.

Fringe
- When write plane sequence for Fringe pilot, was actually on plane from Hawaii, found the experience "disturbing"
- [Fringe] science is the "stuff that happens outside the mainstream. Stuff as a kid I as obsessed with ... like Dr. Frankenstein...Altered States, stories about smart grownup people do insane things that all kids want to be doing."
- The various symbols and the like that pop up during the show are clues to the next episode (I will just take his word for it).
- Says that they are trying to avoid the depth of mythology that Lost, Alias and others had where missing an episode could lead to confusion about future eps. As the host mentioned, I find that excuse stupid, especially the ease in which recaps and summaries are available to catch anyone up to date.
- Gives a hint to "watch out for an observer."

Cloverfield
- In regards to the online viral campaign, verified they did have multiple sites, some that no one picked up on.
- Spoke about the Ethan Haas, which he confirmed had nothing to do with the movie (turned out to be for a video game that I don't even know if it came out or not).
- Is working on a follow-up to Cloverfield, no details given

Star Trek XI
- Couple of weeks away from locking Star Trek
- Visual effects are coming in.
- The Original Series was only series Abrams ever watched. ...one of the writers is a rabid fan that knows "arcane facts" about the series.
- The approach to the movie was to make it feel real, to treat it "as a new thing. Make it legitimate." The concern was to avoid crossing over into campy (which I agree can be easy to do with Star Trek). Sometimes the "biggest challenge was to not make the moment suck."
- There is a "red shirt" moment in the movie. The reference is what a running joke in TOS became where the red shirted security guards always died in episodes to establish the "danger" before Kirk and co. did their thing.

Misc
- Joked that he does TV shows so he can create the theme song for it.

No Cloverfield Sequel?

In a recent interview with Sci-Fi wire, JJ Abrams indicated that he has discussed a Cloverfield sequel but would rather persue another idea with his partners on that film, Drew Goddard and Matt Reeves.

"We're talking about it," Abrams said of Cloverfield 2 during an interview at the Fox upfront presentation for advertisers in New York on May 15, where he was promoting his upcoming SF TV series Fringe. "But the truth is there's another idea that I'd rather do with the same people than do a sequel. It's a whole new thing."

Abrams added, "So my dream is to work with [Goddard and Reeves] again, but do something that's [new]. Having said that, Drew and Matt both, separately, have really good ideas for what [Cloverfield 2] could be. So I don't know. We'll see. I know the studio wants it."

Abrams Comments On Cloverfield 2, Dark Tower

ReelzChannel briefly interviewed JJ Abrams where he discussed some of his current and upcoming projects.(source)

The highlights:
- Love release date of Christmas for Star Trek but thinks the change to summer will give it a larger audience.
- An idea has come up for Cloverfield that they "are exploring."
- Likes the hand held point of view but doesn't worry about it being beat to death and "wearing out its welcome...while people are watching the movie."
- Early stages of doing an adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower. (sweet!)

Dailies | J.J. Abrams

Cloverfield Sequel, Invisible Woman Planned

Paramount has official confirmed what everyone suspected would happen - a Cloverfield sequel is in the works with Director Matt Reeves, Writer Drew Goddard and Producer JJ Abrams. The talk is early, no real plans just ideas being throw around like telling the attack from perspective of a different group.

In addition the trio planning on making "Invisible Woman" which is described as "a Hitchcock-style thriller that probes the mind of a former beauty queen who turns to a life of crime to protect her family."

The preliminary plan is for them to do Cloverfield sequel first followed by Invisible Woman. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing a more epic disaster film that "Godzilla" wasn't rather then just steadi-cam stuff. Or assuming the budget isn't there; the man on the street perspective is fine but follows a company of soldiers so really get into the thick of the action rather then the peripheral. (source)