Rumors of a fourth and even potentially a fifth film in J.J. Abrams Cloverfield franchise have been swirling for several years, but now seem more unlikely to be forthcoming than ever, so what happened? The answer is a complicated quagmire of slated projects, the secretive nature of the productions and releases of the existent films, and behind the scenes studio politics.
Fans were in a tizzy in the run up to the 2008 release of the original Cloverfield. Produced by Abrams and directed by Matt Reeves, the ambiguous title and mystery surrounding the film had people guessing as to its nature right up until the moment the movie appeared on cinema screens. What they got was an epic found footage monster movie, and a boldly stylistic shot of adrenaline for the giant monster genre. Shot on an extremely modest budget of only $25 million, Cloverfield grossed nearly $171 million at the box office and critical acclaim.
The first sequel, 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, was a huge departure from nearly all of the elements of the original film. No true monster movie, the second film is a claustrophobic psychological thriller with only loose connections to the first one. Coming out of seemingly nowhere on Super Bowl Sunday in 2018, The Cloverfield Paradox is an even more dramatic departure from the elements of the first one. The heavy horror in space film introduced some interesting alternate dimensional elements into the franchise, but poor reception weakened enthusiasm for the future of Cloverfield. Still, rumors of future films have persisted.
What Happened To Cloverfield 4 & 5?
Both 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox began life as standalone movies in their own right, as spec scripts The Cellar and The God Particle, respectively. Both scripts eventually found their way into development at Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. Citing "similar DNA", in the words of Abrams, it was only well into the early production phase that it was decided to retroactively rework both films to fit into the Cloverfield universe.
This unorthodox process for developing Cloverfield sequels has been both a blessing and a curse. The 2018 WWII Zombie feature Overlord was dogged by rumors during production that it was a Cloverfield sequel. In October 2019, original Cloverfield star T.J. Miller stated on Instagram that then-upcoming Underwater would be connected to that universe, but both films proved to be stand-alone features.
While there have been promises of a true Cloverfield sequel in the future, the promises may be premature. Last year, JJ Abrams' production company Bad Robot signed an exclusivity deal with WarnerMedia, and since Paramount Pictures is the distributor, the future for the franchise remains an open question.