The Cloverfield monster toy is revealed! You can see it after the jump, but be warned, if you haven’t seen the movie.

The toy is made by Hasbro (makers of My Little Pony, also known as, in this case: bait…) and they’ve finally revealed what the $100 Cloverfield monster toy will look like, It’s pretty insane, to be honest and I have to say I’m not regretting putting in a pre-order on this 14″ tall baby! It has two heads, one with the mouth open, the other, closed, plus 10 of those nasty “parasites” that run amok and wreak havoc.

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Well now, that didn’t take long, did it?

Despite a close to 70% drop in box office in it’s second weekend (which I’ll talk about in a minute) Paramount has already greenlit Cloverfield 2. Let the viral speculation begin!

Will it pick up where the first one ended? Will it cover the same events through a different point of view? At this point it’s all speculation and I’m sure that’s just the way Paramount likes it.
The only thing for certain is that Matt Reeves will be back to direct and Drew Goddard back to write the film.

Are you freaking kidding me? Meet the Spartans is number one at the box office this weekend?

It’s estimated that it brought in $18.7MM vs second place Rambo at $18.2MM. Cloverfield fell 68% from last weekend - a second week drop of that magnitude usually means that a movie has received horrible word of mouth advertising. I knew it was going to split audiences big time into love it or hate it, but it seems that everyone who was going to see it went on opening weekend.

Considering the monster success (yes, that was on purpose) of Paramount’s Cloverfield this past weekend, due in no small part to the viral marketing campaign that preceded it, it looks like they may be applying the same idea to J.J. Abram’s new Star Trek movie.

The teaser trailer is pretty mysterious for such a well-known franchise and now Paramount has also launched what I presume to be the first in a series of viral sites for the film at NCC-1701.com.

UPDATE: A Cloverfield monster action figure, for ages 4 and up (say what?!) can be found at HasbroToyShop.com (no picture yet); it ships by the end of September, 2008. Source: ComingSoon.net

With Cloverfield making big bank, it’s almost certain there will be a sequel. The box office numbers are monstrous (pun-intended…sorry), hitting $46 million in North America. No one is talking yet, but in the next couple of days, expect a deal to be reached on a sequel, unless Bad Robot decides it’s a one-off. And make it original, not “from another camera, same night.” Let’s see something fresh and new. See Vic’s article for his thoughts on a part two.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) have cut a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP); can a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) be close behind? They’ve been striking for almost three months, and many in Hollywood and around the globe have been out of work. Plus, if the strike goes on, will they really shut down the Oscars?

I’m starting to wonder if a backlash from the public against the writers may happen if the Oscars are cancelled, or put on like the dismal Golden Globes (a press conference, that’s all). You see how this could get political? I really hope the DGA deal gets the WGA and AMPTP back to the table to resolve it amicably, and all sides are happy. Source: The Hollywood Reporter.

After the jump, check out the official Star Trek movie website!

So, considering my review of Cloverfield are you surprised that I don’t like the idea of a Cloverfield sequel?

Here’s the deal: I’m not opposed to a sequel - as a matter of fact I think this has the makings of a great franchise for at least another couple of movies. Kind of our very own Godzilla.

What I do believe is a bad idea is what the film’s director, Matt Reeves, may be kicking around as the concept for Cloverfield 2:

[UPDATE: It looks like the final for the 4 day weekend puts Cloverfield box office at $46MM. That's an all time high for January dollar-wise, but inflation adjusted and by attendance it doesn't topple the Star Wars Special Edition re-release or Titanic.]

It’s looking like Cloverfield may either come close to, or may actually break the 4 day box office record for January. It’s a 4 day weekend due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday (I refuse to abbreviate that to “MLK”).

Dollar for dollar it looks like it’s going to be a no-brainer and will surpass the current record holder Titanic. Back in January 1998 the big T brought in $36MM over the 4 day weekend and right now Cloverfield is tracking to come in somewhere between $40 and $50MM (I’m betting closer to 40).

So why do I say “may” break the record? Because I believe that to do a true “apples to apples” comparison when it comes to a recent movie breaking the box office record of a movie that came out 10 years ago, you have to factor ticket price inflation into the number. If the average price of a ticket for a movie in 1998 was $4.69 and today it is $6.82 (those estimates come from Box Office Mojo), a movie today could break a record set by a movie back then even if 30% fewer people show up to see the movie.

So how much does Cloverfield have to bring in this weekend to really break that record?

My buddy Chris over at Movie Marketing Madness has written a comprehensive article about Paramount’s marketing campaign (viral and otherwise) for Cloverfield.

It’s the complete history of the campaign in one place for you along with his very astute analysis of the hype machine for Cloverfield. He points out the difficulties in promoting a movie without a title (it wasn’t officially revealed until mid-December) and the multi-pronged approach they used to build hype and buzz for the movie.

I also give MMM props for posting this analysis before the opening weekend box office numbers come in, which IMHO took some guts but also protects him from accusations of “Monday morning quarterbacking” regarding his conclusions.

It’s well worth a read if if the word “hype” has ever made it into any of your conversations about Cloverfield.

Click here to check it out.

By Vic Holtreman

Short version: Yes, it lives up to the hype - Cloverfield is a blast.

Where does one start a review of a movie that has been the subject of so much attention and hype for months on end leading up to its release?

Bigger than the speculation about what the monster in the movie would look like, the hunting for clues on viral websites, what “Slusho” has to do with the movie - has been the question: After all the hype, will it be a great movie or a huge letdown?

Well I’m sorry to disappoint all the naysayers, but Cloverfield rocked.

Will it win an Oscar or Golden Globe? Heck no. Was it fun and exciting to sit through? Hell yes. This is what the ridiculously weak American version of Godzilla that came out a few years ago should have been.

The following review will be free of any major spoilers - to the point where I won’t even say whether the images that have been making the rounds lately are accurate portrayals of the monster or not.

[UPDATE: Well, I was going to hold off on the review until Friday, but I'm sure Paramount won't mind a spoiler-free positive Cloverfield review.]

I’ll be sitting down to watch the long awaited Cloverfield movie in about 2 1/2 hours. I’ve promised Paramount that I wouldn’t publish my review until Friday, but after I see it I will be updating this post to at least give you the thumbs up or thumbs down on it.

Cloverfield has been the recipient of a monster (pun intended) viral marketing campaign and as my buddy John points out at The Movie Blog, there is the possibility that this could end up being another Snakes on a Plane. If you recall that film generated a TON of online buzz (not much in the “real” world, though) and it ended up tanking big time at the box office.