J.J. Abrams has teased the upcoming Cloverfield 4 – AKA Overlord – will be a “crazy” ride. Fans of the series were in for a shock at the beginning of this week, as within two hours of the trailer being released for The Cloverfield Paradox during the Super Bowl, the movie was available to stream on Netflix. Paradox began life as the God Particle before Abrams decided it would fit into his Cloverfield anthology universe quite well.
The film had been cloaked in mystery prior to release and delayed multiple times, with some reports suggesting the movie had narrative issues. The Cloverfield Paradox’s sudden release ensured huge publicity and was considered a bold marketing move. That said, the movie has received a mostly negative critical reception, focused on its lack of suspense, patchy screenplay and its obvious use of reshoots to make it connect to the Cloverfield universe. The movie would most likely have proven a box-office dud had it been released in theatres, but the savvy decision to send it to Netflix instead guaranteed high viewing figures, and it was apparently in profit by the end of the first day.
Related: The Cloverfield Paradox Original Script Differences
While the movie may have disappointed many fans, they won’t have to wait long until the next Cloverfield sequel arrives. Cloverfield 4 – which may or may not be called Overlord – is arriving October 2018, and in an interview with Digital Spy producer J.J. Abrams spoke about the fun of surprising viewers with Paradox, and his excitement for the next film.
It didn't really feel like it was any fun to release [The Cloverfield Paradox] with everybody knowing that it was coming. Could we possibly do this and keep it a secret and release the thing in the way we did? That felt to me like that's the spirit of these movies, that's the spirit of the series.
So to talk about what the next one is and what's going to happen sort of feels counter-intuitive. Overlord ... first of all, it's something that I can't wait for you to see cause the director, Julius Avery, has done an amazing job on it. But the specifics, you know, we should wait and see. But that's really a crazy movie.
There are few details available for Overlord at the moment, which will be set during World War II, and feature soldiers fighting against supernatural forces unleashed by a Nazi experiment. Wyatt Russell and Jovan Adepo lead the cast. Just like The Cloverfield Paradox and 10 Cloverfield Lane before it, the movie began life as a separate movie before it became part of the series.
It will be interesting to see what unique marketing gimmick Abrams will employ for Overlord, which has become a trademark of the Cloverfield universe. The mysterious teaser for the original movie – which didn’t even reveal the title - sent the internet into a hysterical frenzy trying to figure out what it was, and after years of silence, the sudden announcement of 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 earned the sequel a lot of attention. Paradox’s Netflix release is in keeping with that approach, but Cloverfield 4 has been confirmed as a theatrical release so it can’t repeat the same tactic.
It will also be interesting to see if the reception to The Cloverfield Paradox has affected the brand. The first two movies were both critical and commercial successes, but Paradox’s mediocre reception may have rubbed some of the sheen off the series for moviegoers. Nonetheless, if nothing else Cloverfield 4's “crazy” premise at least makes it sound like an entertaining ride.
More: J.J. Abrams Wants A Break From Directing Reboots
Source: Digital Spy
