In an era when every moment of a film’s production is documented, from official studio announcements to trade reports to talent sharing their experience on the set on social media, “10 Cloverfield Lane” was an exciting breath of fresh air. Kept completely under wraps until its first trailer, which arrived just two months before the film opened, the next chapter in the “Cloverfield” universe was terrific fun, aided by the fact nobody knew what to expect when they bought their ticket. And now J.J. Abrams has done it again.
When asked earlier this year about the possibility of more “Cloverfield” movies, the producer was cagey. “…I would be lying if I didn’t say there was something else that, if we’re lucky enough to do it, could be really cool that connects some stories,” he said in February. “This is just this movie, and it’s only two films that we’re talking about right now. There is something else that we’d like to do, and hopefully we’ll get a shot.”
Well, six months later, cameras quietly started rolling in August and September on the Abrams-produced “God Particle,” and lo and behold, The Wrap reveals it’s actually the next “Cloverfield” movie, and it’s due in cinemas in just a few short months. This one has attracted quite the cast in David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl and Chris O’Dowd, with a script by Oren Uziel (“22 Jump Street,” “Freaks Of Nature“) that finds astronauts making a shocking discovery, that changes the fabric of reality, leading to a fight for their survival. Or basically, “Cloverfield: In Space!”
The idea previously tossed around is that while these films will fly under the “Cloverfield” banner, they are more like standalone entries in an anthology series, rather than straight sequels, but there are some threads that keep them united. For example, in “10 Cloverfield Lane,” John Goodman‘s Howard Stambler works for Bold Futura, a contract subsidiary of the Japanese oil company Tagruato who awakened the beast in “Cloverfield.” Tagruato’s satellite was also seen crashing at the end of “Cloverfield.”
For “God Particle,” Slashfilm have done some clue connecting, and they’ve noticed that in the 10 Cloverfield Lane Augmented Reality Game, there’s a hidden transmission from the International Space Station (listen below). Could this be the link between “10 Cloverfield Lane” and “God Particle”? (Presumably the title will change; “10 Cloverfield Lane” was first announced and went into production under the working title “The Cellar“).
However, the genius of the “Cloverfield” franchise is that you don’t really need to know any of this stuff, and you can roll in and still enjoy the films as pure genre exercises. But if the franchise is already going to space on the third outing, where can it go next?
“God Particle,” directed by Julius Onah, opens on February 24, 2017.