Cloverfield is a franchise that thrives on surprises, as its 2008 origin story proved that teasing your audience in just the right way pays off in the long run. Two further entries used a similar strategy to woo audiences back to the table, but since 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox, the series seemed dormant. At least, that was until last year’s announcement of a direct sequel to the first Cloverfield, which may have just taken a Clover-sized step forward.
News landed today that Paramount is indeed has another Cloverfield movie in the works, as reported by Deadline. Director Babak Anvari, whose credits include horror/thrillers like the recent Netflix original film I Came By, has been announced as sitting in the director’s chair. Accompanying him is Joe Barton, the writer who was previously tapped to write the direct sequel to director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard’s sleeper monster hit.
This is where the big questions start coming into play, as the source cited above stated that details on the Cloverfield sequel are being kept under wraps. As we’d previously heard that Barton was working on a script to a non-found footage continuation of the first film’s story, those details have not resurfaced in this announcement. So is this new movie still picking up where Matt Reeves and Drew Goddard’s first movie left off?
Another trick that this franchise is really good at executing is changing one concept to another at the drop of a hammer. Both subsequent entries in the JJ Abrams produced anthology saw scripts for previous projects retrofitted to become tales in this growing universe. It got to the point where rumors suggested A Quiet Place as a potential secret Cloverfield movie. That suggestion was thoroughly debunked, as that other Paramount sci-fi universe is being built out through its own continuation, the 2023 prequel A Quiet Place: Day One.
Still, as Joe Barton is still involved with writing in this particular sandbox, you would think that if the direct sequel concept was in play it would be mentioned outright. Just specifying that the Cloverfield sequel is still in play isn’t a spoiler, and doesn’t ruin the mystery. Which makes it all the more likely that, through some extra workshopping and revisions, there may be a new type of tale to tell this time out.
Intense speculation, details being kept under wraps, a gigantic monster of unknown quantity lurking in the distance…it feels like the old days of Cloverfield’s viral marketing campaign. It’s been almost 15 years since Clover terrorized New York for the first time, and whatever stories are left to tell in this universe are just as exciting to behold.
Whether it’s the direct sequel, or something new altogether, seeing a new Cloverfield installment progressing through development is enough to make one smile. Unless you happen to own New York real estate, of course. In which case, you should probably brush up on what we know about the Cloverfield Monster, and prepare for whatever new danger will present itself.
Sadly, the original Cloverfield isn’t available on the major streaming subscription services. So watching that first mega hit will depend on you renting or purchasing it for your own perusal. That being said, a Paramount+ subscription will give you access to 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Netflix still has its original entry in the series, The Cloverfield Paradox.
