Screen Rant » cloverfield

Matt Reeves Discusses ‘Cloverfield 2′

Rob Keyes — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:59:05 +0000

On Wednesday, Matt Reeves spoke with MTV about some of the ideas and the dilemma of making a sequel to the shake-fest, Cloverfield.

In the interview, he clarified that the studio really wants a sequel (it was greenlit just weeks after opening) and that since the film came out in January there have been quite a few discussions and brainstorming sessions about the sequel. Reeves emphasized the point that wanting a sequel and having a good idea for one are two separate things.

“There are a couple ideas that have potential but we haven’t quite cracked it yet”

Although signed to direct the sequel (with Drew Goddard again writing), Reeves is currently busy with his project, The Invisible Woman and his Let the Right One In remake so his focus isn’t currently on Cloverfield. Sorting through the ideas and possibilities for the follow-up has proved challenging and one of their ideas was basing it in Japan – where the original story was inspired from.

We can expect the second film to be of a different style and entirely separate from the first. This means that it’s likely we’ll not see any of the characters from the first film and it probably won’t be based directly after in terms of timing.

I’m a huge fan of J.J. Abrams and his work and although I really dug the uniqueness and the experience that Cloverfield was, I was pretty ill throughout the second half of the movie – and I never get sick from films or roller coasters. Luckily, the makers realize that audiences are over the viral-styled gimmick and in a lot of cases were sick of the idea before the movie even ended.

I’m all for a Cloverfield sequel and I believe that it can become the modern Godzilla franchise. There are infinite possibilities but I’m hopeful of a follow-up that’s an entirely different type of film.

What do you think?

Source: MTV

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Unflattering Look At The Cloverfield Monster

Heath McKnight — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:30:26 +0000

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.

Now I say “unflattering” because these are brightly lit shots of a toy with no “atmosphere” to make them look better. Just stark white lighting, but it’s effective at showing the detail. So, here you go:

Pretty nasty looking, eh?

Find the toy at Hasbro.com! Also, Paramount released a video of the “Monster Revealed,” if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s a scary moment in the movie which you can see here at Yahoo! movies.

Source: Hasbro.com; hat tip: Scott M!

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Cloverfield 2 Gets A Green Light

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:40:17 +0000

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.

Regarding the big box office drop in it’s second weekend, I think my buddy Chris over at Movie Marketing Madness pegged it right: The marketing was done to suck everyone who was interested in seeing the movie into theaters on opening weekend. After that only folks who hadn’t heard about were left and then they were influenced by either the people who loved it or those who hated the movie.

Source: UGO

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Meet The Spartans Box Office = Sign Of The Apocalypse

Vic Holtreman — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:28:28 +0000

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.

I’m curious to see how Rambo holds up in it’s second weekend: Will word of mouth bless it or bash it? Of course next weekend is the Super Bowl so movie receipts will no doubt be down regardless.

But back to the title of this article… Are people really THAT desperate for anything resembling a comedy that they pushed Spartans over the top? Or dare I say that people just have incredibly low standards?

If there’s a huge drop next week for that movie there may still be hope for mankind – but if it only drops about 50% I will weep for the future of cinema since it will encourage studios to pump out more dreck.

I mean seriously… Meet the Spartans is sitting at a 5% favorable rating at RottenTomatoes.com and even over at IMDB.com where the voters are much more forgiving, it’s currently sitting at only 2.6/10.

Of course I’m supremely confident that no regular Screen Rant readers contributed to this box office travesty…

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Star Trek Taking A Lesson From Cloverfield

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:27:33 +0000

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.

Over at TrekMovie.com they’ve already dissected the site and revealed the images that are there so far. Nothing exciting really: just more images of the construction of the Enterprise… except for ONE cool thing.

An interior shot of a corridor on the ship.

Check out this enlarged and photoshopped version:

My thought on the above image is that what Abrams and company are doing is taking the look of the first Star Trek movie and they are going backwards from those designs, as opposed to going forward from the original TV series designs.

So far the exterior skin of the ship and the interior corridors are reminiscent of the early movie versions of the refitted NCC-1701. While ultra-strict purists may balk, for the average fan, this is both familiar and also doesn’t leave as much room for complaint since it actually fits with the Trek universe since the original better than the original itself.

Smart guy, that Abrams fellow.

The corridors have the outer framework outline used in the original cast films, but the color scheme seems to be taking a cue from the failed TV series Star Trek: Enterprise.

Head on over to the site and have a peek.

Thanks again to Anthony at TrekMovie.com for alerting us to the site and for finding the hidden image.

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Screen Rant Movie News Grab Bag 1-21-08

Heath McKnight — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:02:00 +0000

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!

The official Paramount Pictures Star Trek movie website opened, and it’s looking a little sparse. I figured the goose bump-inducing teaser trailer seen before Cloverfield would have gone online officially by today (Monday January 21, 2008). Studios will wait until after the trailer premieres before a big movie’s opening weekend, to get more people in the theatre, then put it online that Sunday night or Monday morning. But the Star Trek teaser isn’t online yet.

As soon as the trailer goes online officially, you can count on Screen Rant to bring it to you, along with new updates.

UPDATE! No sooner do I hit publish, then the trailer goes online officially! Well, that’s Murphy’s Law for you. Check it out here!

Lastly, are three actors up for the role of Duke in Stephen Sommer’s G.I. Joe movie? Looks that way, with Chris Evans (Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies), Matthew Fox (Lost, great choice), and Channing Tatum (a relatively young newcomer), are all vying for the role.

Personally, I think they need to go older vs. younger. A 28 year old Duke seems too young, so Fox has my vote. But how about this? Bruce Willis as Duke–I’d go see that film in a heartbeat! Source: Latino Review; hat tip to Scott M.!

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Cloverfield 2 Is A Bad Idea

Vic Holtreman — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:35:28 +0000

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:

“While we were on set making the film we talked about the possibilities and directions of how a sequel can go. The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie! In today’s day and age of people filming their lives on their iphones and handy cams, uploading it to YouTube… That was kind of exciting thinking about that.”

Matt, if you get to be the guy who makes the sequel I would highly recommend that you go in a completely different direction.

The hand-held digicam point of view concept is cool the first time you use it, but I’m telling you: If the sequel is based on the exact same events but from yet another point of view it will tank.

Badly.

The only thing that gives me hope in the statement above is that Reeves states that it is only one of many possible directions they discussed for a sequel.

Remember how awesome the original Alien by director Ridley Scott was? It was groundbreaking, fantastic and did amazingly well at the box office. And then James Cameron came on board for the sequel and instead of continuing down the same road he took the story in a completely different direction, and that turned out to be a brilliant decision.

I suggest that Reeves, Abrams and Paramount take a lesson from that page in movie history while they consider a Cloverfield sequel.

Source: Bloody Disgusting via First Showing

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Cloverfield Box Office: Will It Be A Record Breaker?

Vic Holtreman — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:35:07 +0000

[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?

$52.4 million.

Now considering the way it’s tracking, that’s not out of the question, but it’s not a “lock” either. According to the Cloverfield discussion following my review, while most people who’ve taken the time to leave their thoughts on the film loved it, those who didn’t, really hated it.

I have read about many instances of people leaving the theater during the movie due to feeling queasy due to the camera work plus it seems that a lot of folks just don’t seem to “get it” and wanted something more conventional including more screen time for the monster and an explanation of what was going on.

Unfortunately I didn’t put this in print at the time, but after seeing the movie I did predict that audiences were going to be split on this movie.

The film is being rated pretty high over at Rotten Tomatoes, with a 77% positive overall rating and a 69% positive for their “cream of the crop” reviewers. And over at IMDB.com, where the ratings represent more of the “average joe” it’s sitting at 8.3 out of 10 (although I often disagree with the consensus over there).

When the final numbers are posted Tuesday I’ll let you know what they are.

Oh, and I can’t help but point out that in its opening weekend, here in the U.S. Cloverfield will earn probably as much as the God-awful Aliens vs Predator: Requiem has since its opening almost 4 weeks ago. So for those of you that slammed my review and have been defending that POS as “an awesome movie” – put that in your pipe and smoke it.

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Complete History Of Cloverfield’s Marketing (Hype) Strategy

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:24:42 +0000

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.

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Review: Cloverfield

Vic Holtreman — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:52:34 +0000

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.

Cloverfield opens with a color bar pattern on the screen (which did elicit some unintentional laughs from the audience), but after a few seconds cuts to a very official and government-looking title stating:

“Multiple sightings of case designate ‘Cloverfield’ camera retrieved at incident site U.S. 447 previously known as “Central Park”

Yes, this was shown in the trailer, but as the movie is just starting it impresses upon you that this is not going to end well.

When it cuts from there to a hand held digital camera’s eye view of the interior of a very nice high rise apartment in New York City, it’s quite surprising (and I thought, did not make sense). Here we meet beauty Beth (Odette Yustman) and the guy behind the camera who we presume to be her boyfriend, Rob. Rob (played by Michael Stahl-David) is the fellow for whom the going away party is being thrown due to a new job as vice-president of some company in Japan.

From there it seems that whoever is in charge of the camcorder likes to pretty much record anything and everything as it follows people walking down the streets of New York City and into Rob’s apartment which is being prepared for a surprise going away party for him. We meet Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel), who has been tasked by his girlfriend Lilly (Jessica Lucas) with recording “testimonials” from all the guests at the party. Jason is not pleased and manages to hand off the job to Rob’s best friend Hud, who at first grudgingly takes up the task. Eventually Hud starts to enjoy it as the night goes on and he gets a bit drunk while faithfully filming everything that’s going on.

We also meet a young woman named Marlena (played by Lizzy Kaplan), who Hud has his eye on but can’t seem to work up the courage (or charm) to talk to properly. By this time the audience is finally getting absorbed into the whole camcorder point of view thing, but it does take a while. The official government opening of the film doesn’t quite jive with all this preliminary material, but eventually it does get to the point where Hud wants to keep recording because “someone should see this.”

As we all know already, it’s during this party that all hell breaks loose and when it happens it’s extremely effective. I found myself thinking of Asian horror films, where up until the stuff hits the fan they can be incredibly mundane and almost boring, which then makes for a much more jarring effect when things veer off into the bizarre.

There’s a lot of humor in the film, mostly provided by cameraman Hud (played by unknown T.J. Miller who is not seen a lot but whose presence is constantly felt). One thing I found funny in particular was moments after the initial attack, when the head from the Statue of Liberty ends up in the middle of a Manhattan street, while some people are screaming and yelling “Oh My God!” a bunch of folks gather around the head in the middle of the chaos to calmly take pictures of it with their cell phones and digital cameras.

I didn’t expect the film to be funny at all, but the humor was sprinkled throughout the film very effectively, at time relieving the tension of what was happening on screen. Cloverfield also has a much larger scale than I expected considering the hand-held premise, showing citywide vistas and long shots of the creature. On the flip side, if you absolutely HATE the “jumpy camera” film style I have to say this film is not for you. Well, maybe if you sit in the very last row.

Now when I say “larger scale,” don’t go in expecting some mega-production… Although the effects are, well, effective, it’s more of an intimate film where we get to know the five friends and experience what happens through their eyes in real time.

Yes, 9/11 did come to mind and yes, it did make me a bit uneasy. But what I liked was that in a way it was almost cathartic (just stay with me here): As the people on the street that day didn’t know exactly what was going on despite the fact they were witnessing it first hand, the characters in the film (and the audience) experience similar confusion in the face of disaster of a different sort here.

Regarding the viral marketing of this film: In the end, it fits the final product perfectly. It really is a small film about a small group of friends with the occasional “big” scene here and there.

The creature is very cool and had kind of an H.P. Lovecraft look about it, and it delivers a few surprises. The characters were believable and well acted for this sort of film and that was extremely important, because if you didn’t care about them you had nothing (cough, AVP-R, cough).

So for all you movie reviewer haters out there that think I don’t cut sci-fi movies (AVP-R) or TV shows (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) enough slack, Cloverfield exemplifies what a Screen Rant review is all about: In the end does the movie entertain the audience without insulting their intelligence?

If the answer is yes, it gets a great review from me.

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Cloverfield Advanced Screening

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:21:38 +0000

[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.

Having said that, I think this is a different case: This is more of a mainstream horror/monster movie with the appeal of being “different” in the way it was shot with the personal digicam POV. Yes, that was done in The Blair Witch Project but I don’t want to make any comparisons to that movie (which have started popping up all over due to AICN’s mention of it reference to this film) until I actually see watch this one tonight.

We’ll see if this lives up to all the excitement.

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A Cloverfield Movie Party And You’re Invited

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:25:38 +0000

How would you like to attend an official Cloverfield movie party? If you’re within traveling distance of New York City on January 17th (the day before the movie opens on 1-18-08), you can RSVP to for a chance to receive an invite.

Here are the details…

Cloverfield and Myspace are throwing a surprise party for Rob in New York City!

Join us next Thursday night, January 17th for a send off for our buddy Rob, he’s moving to Japan! There will be drinks, dancing, and tons of cool people. It will be a party to remember!

We’re randomly picking 200 people who RSVP to join us for a big Cloverfield celebration in the Lower East Side. It’s going to be a blast!

RSVP to robsparty@cloverfieldmovie.com – make sure to include your FULL NAME and a PHONE NUMBER that we can reach you at. We will let you know if you have been chosen via telephone.

RSVP before Thursday night January 10th at midnight- we’re picking winners this Friday!

And here’s what the invitation looks like:

Here is the MySpace Cloverfield page.

I RSVP’d, but unfortunately I’d have to jump on a plane to make it to the party.

Cloverfield opens on Friday, 1-18-08.

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Screen Rant Grab Bag 12-19-07

Heath McKnight — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:10:02 +0000

G.I. Joe casting update: More cast members have joined the Stephen Sommers-directed film, including big-time Korean star Byeong-Heon Lee, who will be playing Cobra Commander’s bodyguard (and Snake Eyes’ brother) Storm Shadow. Scarlett O’Hara will be played by upcoming star Rachel Nichols. They join Sienna Miller (as the female lead) and Ray Park (Darth Maul, who plays Snake Eyes). The film is scheduled to open in 2009. Source: Latino Review.

USA Network cancels The Dead Zone and The 4400: Fans were disappointed to learn both The Dead Zone and The 4400 were canceled today, and the final episodes were aired in September. Looks like any dangling plot lines won’t be worked out, unless fans can rally to save the shows, a la Jericho! Source: Ain’t It Cool News.

New Cloverfield clip: Some rocking new footage, plus the one shot of the monster we’ve seen in the latest trailer and the five minute preview, seems to be a little more clear now. This is a 30-second TV spot, so look for more of these as January 18, 2008 gets closer. Source: Ain’t It Cool News.

Has the live-action Dragonball movie landed Chow Yun-Fat? Wow, I’m getting impressed with this film, but it’s way past my generation. Heck, I was about three years too old for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when they exploded in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The film opens summer 2008 and is directed by James Wong (Final Destination, X-Files). Source: Superhero Hype!

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Cloverfield Five Minute Clip Online!

Heath McKnight — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:27:07 +0000

Hey everyone, just wanted to put up this clip from the highly anticipated Cloverfield, opening in just over a month on January 18, 2008 (the film was known by this date for a while, 1-18-08), from producer JJ Abrams. He does an introduction to the clip, and I’m almost positive it’s from the set of the new Star Trek Film!

The clip is after the jump. It’s awesome and actually a bit scary (think 9/11).

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Star Trek: Trailer News And Why Shatner’s Gonna Get Madder

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:42:37 +0000

[UPDATE: The official Star Trek trailer is now online.]

Sorry about the lousy grammar in the title, but I was trying to figure out how not to make it a mile long.

We’ve all been wondering when we’ll get a look at the first trailer for Star Trek 11… well I have it on good authority when we’ll finally see it and what movie it will be attached to.

The Star Trek teaser trailer will be attached to J.J. Abrams monster movie Cloverfield, which opens on January 18, 2008.

It makes sense if you think about it. Attach the trailer for an upcoming Abrams movie to an Abrams movie. TrekMovie.com speculated earlier this month that the trailer might be attached to either Cloverfield or Indy 4. And according to Latino Review, the teaser is supposed to show (among other things) the construction of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.

And why do I think Bill Shatner’s going to be even more annoyed than he has been up until now regarding Star Trek 11…?

Because not only is Leonard Nimoy in it, but according to the latest issue of Starburst magazine, George Takei (aka Hikaru Sulu in the show) is also going to appear in the film. No doubt it will be a cameo, but… damn.

I know if I was Shatner I’d be pretty P.O.’d about that.

I mean, sure, the deed is done: They killed off Kirk in the lousy Star Trek: Generations, but they could have found a way to write him into the story. The writers have stated again and again that they wanted to include Shatner in the movie but it seems that it’s all been nothing but lip service.

Either that or it’s one of the biggest coordinated misdirection campaigns by a studio, ever, and Shatner will appear in the movie.

Star Trek opens on Christmas Day 2008.

UPDATE:

“TrekMovie.com has confirmed from multiple sources that this is entirely not true. One source has told TrekMovie that there is no role for Takei as Sulu in the script (which is locked due to the WGA strike). Apparently J.J. Abrams has spoken to Takei (just as he has also spoken to William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols), but there is no indication that this talk was about a potential role for the actor. Mr. Takei could not be reached because he is currently on set for The Red Canvas, a martial arts film. However Brad Altman, Takei’s business manager and partner told TrekMovie.com “The Starburst Magazine article is erroneous, we will be as surprised as the fans if George is in Star Trek XI.”

Must be nice to be that connected…

Source: TrekWeb

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LOL, Shocking Title To Cloverfield Movie Revealed!

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:48:39 +0000

I just love a good bit of irony… after all the speculation on what J.J. Abrams upcoming monster movie codenamed Cloverfield would end up really being titled we finally have our answer.

Will it be 1-18-08? Monster? Some other well-hidden title?

Nope. Here it is:

CLOVERFIELD

Ya just gotta love that.

By the way, in light of how the recent spate of torture movies has done (ie. not so well), the buzz is that Abrams’ film is going to usher in the next wave of horror movies. So get ready for a bunch of new monster movies to start hitting movie theaters, especially if Cloverfield ends up being a big hit.

BTW, the new trailer is supposed to be attached to Beowulf, opening on November 16th.

Source: IESB

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Untitled J.J. Abrams Project Suddenly Becomes Far Less Intriguing

Kane — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:09:16 +0000

Since the trailer for J.J. Abrams’ mystery project appeared out of nowhere a couple of months ago, I must admit I’ve been eager to find out more. Referred to as Cloverfield or simply 1-18-08 – the film’s planned release date – the trailer had me hooked. As a major fan of Lost, I appreciated the lack of details. I loved not knowing.

Then came announcements of a monster destroying New York City.

Now the official title rumors have begun: first Monstrous and now, following that leak, Wreck.

Call me crazy but has the project suddenly become a whole heap less interesting to anyone else? What sounded like an eery, ominous thriller is beginning to sound more like Godzilla with a title to out-lame Hollow Man.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m well aware that it’s the film that counts, not the title. I just kinda liked Cloverfield – since it means nothing to me, in an intriguing way – and 1-18-08 – since it gives you those 9-11 kind of chills, as though the whole world will stop for a moment in time.

Now, it’s just another film. Another Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow.

Let’s hope I’m proven wrong!

Source: Bloody Disguisting

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July 26th Comic-Con Report:

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:24:48 +0000

This post will be continually updated.

At the Paramount panel:

Hot Rod

The three leads from Hot Rod introduced a clip from the film. It was a hysterical parody of a classic scene from Footloose taken way over the top. I have to admit it was pretty damned funny.

Stardust

Neil Gaiman was there to introduce a clip from the upcoming film. It was quite an extended clip showing Michelle Pfeiffer as the Witch turning two goats into men in order to help her staff an inn that she also creates in the clip to trap the young woman (Claire Danes) who is quite literally the star of the movie.

The effects were quite elaborate with everything being created from magic flames. It’s kind of hard coming into a scene like this without much context… one thing that I thought was kind of wierd, was that when the witch turned the goats into men, she decided to turn one of them into a young woman. Although this goat was a man for all of 30 seconds, it/he became amazingly fascinated with the female physique.

In regards to a Sandman movie, Neil stated that he’s rather see no movie made at all than a poor one.

Beowulf

He and Roger Avery then discussed Beowulf briefly. It was disclosed that it will be in 3D and I had no idea (unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the event yesterday where they showed 20 minutes of the film). They discussed how difficult it had been to turn the classic story into a coherent film.

As far as casting, far before production of the film was anywhere near to even happening, Neil said that they sat in a bar and discussed their fantasy cast for a movie, and in the end every single person they wanted ended up in the movie.

It will be the widest 3D release of a movie ever done, and will be viewable in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D.

They did premiere a 2D version of the trailer on the big screen. The only phrase I can think of to describe the trailer is absolutely gorgeous.

Cloverfield

They showed the trailer again, which was great on a big screen with killer audio. J.J. Abrams said that he wanted a monster movie, a REAL monster movie – something to be our version of Godzilla (but NOT Godzilla). He did NOT give the title, but premiered a poster which showed the Statue of Liberty missing it’s head. That’s all for Cloverfield folks!

The Spiderwick Chronicles

This one is basically about fairies and goblins. All the different types of fairies that exist, including the not so nice ones. Big time special effects guy Phil Tippet was there to introduce some info on how they created the characters including your basic goblins, bull-goblins (which look like a freaking ugly frog/angler fish standing on two legs). The goal was to create creatures that look biologically real more than like fantasy creatures.

Iron Man

Jon Favreau did a very cute video presentation promising that is was early animation footage – it was footage of the old Iron Man cartoon from the 60’s. He ended up appearing in person. He then went ahead and showed some footage and all I can say is HOLY CRAP!

Click here for a full description of the Iron Man movie clip from the Comic-Con.

Indiana Jones

Steven Spielberg was onscreen live from the set, and he promised that this movie was for the fans. Harrison Ford was also there talking about being happy to be “back in the sweaty dirty clothes.”

Shia Lebouf and Ray Winston were there as well, wearing their costumes and sitting in director’s chairs and to finish things off, Karen Allen walked in, reprising her role as Marion.

Spielberg reiterated how this one is totally for the fans, and that he thinks about how the fans will like what he’s doing on every single scene he shoots.

Star Trek

Wriiters, producers and director J.J. Abrams were on hand to talk about the film. Abrams said that when he wrote a draft of the script he was really jealous of whoever would end up directing the film.

Casting: Despite rumours to the contrary Abrams said that they are trying desperately to fit William Shatner into the film. He just said they want to do it right on not just squeeze him into the movie.

Zachary Quinto of Heroes has been announced as the actor to play Spock in the film, although they’re still looking for someone to cast as Kirk. I think Quinto will make a FANTASTIC Spock.

They also confirmed that Leonard Nimoy will be reprising his role as Spock in the film. Nimoy is at the panel and he stated that it “was logical” for Quinto to play Spock and that he thought the script is wonderful and fabulous. I don’t take his opinion lightly as he directed a couple of the best Trek films to date.

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Cloverfield, Cloverfield, Cloverfield!

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:32:53 +0000

Holy cow I can’t remember the last time I saw this much buzz/hysteria/mystery surrounding a movie based on so little information. I think I’d have to go back to Blair Witch Project for a similar case.

So here’s the latest:

- According to J.J. Abrams, the items I mentioned regarding the supposedly related Ethan Hass websites are in fact NOT related to Cloverfield, 1-18-08 or whatever you want to call this project. Now as far as I’m concerned, Abrams saying that these sites are unrelated does not necessarily make that true.

- According to /Film there’s a Japanese website (Slusho.jp) that is related to the film because one of the characters in the trailer is wearing a shirt with that logo, and there are also some history between Abrams and that name.

- Paramount has actually released the trailer in Quicktime in a variety of sizes including Hi-Def.

- There’s a new photo added to the initial, officially acknowledged site.

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The Weekly Rant – July 6, 2007

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:52:06 +0000

This week The Weekly Rant covers a wee bit of Iron Man, Live Free or Die Hard, of course I have to talk about Transformers and the goings on of the super-secret J.J. Abrams monster movie with the codename: “Cloverfield.”

Click here for this week’s podcast:

[UPDATE: There was apparently a problem with the initial podcast and my selection of an alternative player. I've updated the player above to the one I normally use and it should now play without a problem.]

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