It’s come to this: reporting on what you might see in a secret trailer that will be made public in a few days, but when it comes to viral marketing and secret projects, J.J. Abrams practically invented it.
As we reported this morning, Abrams apparently has a secret project already in the can called “Super 8” which may or may not be a sequel to “Cloverfield.” The trailer will reportedly unspool in front of prints of “Iron Man 2,” and some extraordinary measures are being taken by the studio to keep it under lock and key until Friday (though preview audiences tonight and tomorrow might see it; if you do keep us posted). However, Vulture appear to have gotten a sneak peek and here’s what they report:
Insiders familiar with the trailer tell us that it shows a bunch of kids who are shooting a movie with a Super 8 camera in the seventies or eighties. When they develop the film, they notice that there’s an alien creature in the frame. Our sources also say that Super 8 is absolutely connected to 2008’s Cloverfield (possibly a prequel, but not a sequel).
Kind of sounds like that scene in “Signs” doesn’t it? Anyhow, “Cloverfield” using a ’70s/’80s home video aesthetic could potentially be interesting, but we’re not sure the idea could sustain a whole picture. So, is it a prequel? A sequel? Your guess is as good as ours and we’re not going to venture anything until we see it for ourselves.
Chalk up another one in the Abrams column; he’s done a remarkable job of keeping this one quiet. That said, if the viral campaign for “Super 8” comes anywhere near the size of what was done for “Cloverfield,” our fatigue factor is going to set in quickly. But for now, we’re definitely curious to see what’s in store. Whatever it is, it looks like the thunder has been stolen from the new “Inception” trailer which is also supposed to drop this weekend in front of “Iron Man 2.”
–Written by Kevin Jagernauth