Paramount Pictures has both moved the next Cloverfield movie (aka. God Particle) back to 2018 and bumped the George Clooney-directed Suburbicon and Darren Aronofsky's mother! up by a month. Serving as the third installment in the Cloverfield franchise, God Particle will center around a team of astronauts who find themselves stranded on a space station. Following a science experiment gone wrong - namely a particle accelerator makes Earth vanish - the team of interstellar explorers are faced with a dilemma of epic proportions.

Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by Julius Onah - based on a concept that has been in development since 2012 - God Particle should see fit to take fans of the Cloverfield franchise on another wild ride. And based on the stellar performance from 10 Cloverfield Lane last year, things are about to take another unexpected turn for long time fans of the wildly inventive and unpredictable franchise - even with the extended delay between installments.

As reported by The Wrap, God Particle is now set to hit theaters on February 2, 2018, after having been pushed back from its previous October 27, 2017 release date. Taking its former October spot is the home-invasion thriller Suburbicon - as directed by and starring Clooney, based on a script written by the Coen Brothers.

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There is little to go on at the time of this writing as to why God Particle was pushed back, but with any luck a 2018 release will allow Abrams, Onah, and company get everything more thoroughly into place. In the meantime, Clooney fans have Suburbicon to look forward to, and Aronofsky acolytes have mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence, to enjoy in September.

10 Cloverfield Lane was a pleasant surprise when it came out in early 2016, and by all accounts gleaned thus far, God Particle should serve to expound upon many of the same themes and aesthetic influences. While it's an undoubted blow to the hearts of many Cloverfield fans that the third film in the series won't be reaching theaters until early 2018, the new release date might actually better serve the third Cloverfield movie. That is, the film will no longer have to face-off at the box office with both the Saw sequel/reboot Jigsaw and the true story-based military drama Thank You For Your Service, during its opening weekend. Instead, God Particle looks to have its new February date all to itself.

NEXT: How God Particle Evolved Into Cloverfield 3

Source: The Wrap

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