http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield
"Cloverfield" is the code name of an upcoming science fiction film produced by J. J. Abrams, directed by Matt Reeves, and written by Drew Goddard. First publicized in advance screenings of Transformers, the secret project is slated for a January 18, 2008 release. Paramount is carrying out a viral marketing campaign to promote the film.
Contents [hide]
1 Premise
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Marketing
4.1 Plot speculation
4.2 Viral websites
4.3 Comic-Con
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Premise
A group of people witness a monster attack on New York City and try to live through it.[1]
[edit] Cast
Michael Stahl-David in the lead role[2]
Odette Yustman
Mike Vogel
Lizzy Caplan
Greg Grunberg[3]
Blake Lively[4]
[edit] Production
In February 2007, Paramount Pictures secretly greenlighted the project "Cloverfield" to be produced by J. J. Abrams, directed by Matt Reeves, and written by Drew Goddard.[1] For the film, Abrams conceived of a new monster after he and his son visited a toy store in Japan that had Godzilla toys.[5] The casting process was also carried out in secret, with no script being sent out to candidates. It has been confirmed that Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel and Lizzy Caplan star in the movie. With production estimated to have a budget of $30 million, filming began in mid-June in New York.[1] Location filming, shot in digital video using hand-held video cameras,[2] has taken place on Coney Island, with scenes being shot at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park and the B&B Carousel.[4] One report asserts that the film will not be "a sequel or a remake" of any previous motion picture.[6]
[edit] Marketing
As Transformers showed high tracking numbers before its release, Paramount decided to release a teaser for "Cloverfield" before the film to build hype. The teaser footage is shot with a hand-held camera to emulate a home-movie style, and did not reveal the name of the film, but showed a release date of January 18, 2008. The teaser, depicting a cataclysmic attack on New York City by an unknown entity, was leaked onto YouTube by people who recorded it with camcorders, but Paramount invoked its copyright claim to have the links removed.[1] Paramount eventually made the teaser trailer available to the public at Apple.com.
[edit] Plot speculation
Before details of the film were released, the media reported numerous possibilities about what the film would be about. USA Today reported the possibilities of the film being based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, a live-action adaptation of Voltron, a new film about Godzilla, or a spin-off of the TV show Lost.[7] The Star Ledger also reported the possibility of the film being based on Lovecraft lore or Godzilla.[8] The Guardian also reported the possibility of a Lost spin-off,[9] while Time Out reported that the film was about an alien called The Parasite.[10] IGN also backed the possibility of the same premise, with the film titled The Parasite.[11] However, Entertainment Weekly reported that the film would not be about a parasite or a colossal Asian robot such as Voltron.[2]
[edit] Viral websites
Puzzle websites containing Lovecraftian elements (such as one based on Ethan Haas Was Right) were originally reported to be connected to the film.[7][9] However, on July 9, 2007, producer J. J. Abrams stated that, while a number of websites were being developed to market the film, the only official site that had been found was 1-18-08.com.[12] Kirk Montgomery of Colorado's 9NEWS reported an inside source's claim that the website Slusho.jp "has lots of clues", though this has not been officially confirmed as a marketing campaign website.[6] The Washington Post also reported, "Records showed that the Slusho Web site was registered before the trailer aired, indicating that the site almost had to be official."[13]
[edit] Comic-Con
At Comic-Con 2007, J. J. Abrams was expected to announce the official title of the movie.[14] Abrams however did not reveal an official title for the film and also denied that it would be called Monstrous.[15] He added that the marketing campaign would continue, in which a full trailer, clips, posters and the title would be released, and that the movie was still in production but filming was almost completed.[5]
