The screenwriter of Cloverfield 2 has offered a promising update about the progress of the film. The film, which is currently untitled, is technically the fourth entry in the Cloverfield film franchise. The series originated with the 2008 found footage film Cloverfield, which depicted a giant monster emerging from the ocean to terrorize New York City. That was followed by two largely unrelated spin-offs: 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, which follows a young woman trapped in a bunker by a doomsday prepper who believes the world has ended, and 2018's The Cloverfield Paradox, which follows a space station sucked into an alternate dimension and eventually offers a potential explanation for the monstrous activity in the previous two films.
The franchise has lain dormant since then, though there have been teases of another Cloverfield in development for some time. However, it wasn't officially announced until January 2021, with original Cloverfield producer J.J. Abrams teaming with Hannah Minghella to oversee a screenplay by Joe Barton. This September, another huge stride was made when Under the Shadow director Babak Anvari signed on to helm the project.
Variety recently sat down with Barton to discuss his new Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself. However, the conversation naturally turned to his Cloverfield project, and after being asked if he was working directly with Abrams, which he denied, he shared an update on his progress. He revealed that he is currently doing revisions on what he hopes is "the last sort of big script push." Read his full quote below:
I’m writing it on my own, JJ is a producer on it. So I go away and do my drafts and then he gives notes and the Bad Robot execs give notes, and then he’ll jump in occasionally and look at drafts and stuff. I imagine probably the next one, because Babak Anvari just came on to direct so we’re getting closer to production. I’m doing some revisions at the moment and the hope would be that this would be the last sort of big script push, and then we get on to actually making it.
Will Cloverfield 2 Be A Direct Sequel To The Original Movie?
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So far, there has been some indication that Cloverfield 2 will be a proper sequel to the original Cloverfield. For instance, in 2018, Abrams assured audiences it would be a "true" sequel after revealing that the John Krasinski monster movie A Quiet Place was originally envisioned as another 10 Cloverfield Lane-style spinoff. However, given the largely negative fan reaction to The Cloverfield Paradox, it makes sense that they would attempt to course-correct the series.
However, it is unclear in what ways Cloverfield 2 could pick up where Cloverfield left off. The original film ended on a dour note, with the lead couple presumably perishing in an explosion when the military bombs the city to destroy the monster, though a tease in the credits would seem to indicate that it is still alive. The most probable answer would be to follow the pattern of the original Godzilla films and have the monster return to the sea, only emerging once more for another rampage over a decade later when provoked in some new way.
Source: Variety