Cloverfield, perhaps one of the best found-footage films of all time, is finally getting a direct sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The 2008 creature-feature was a commercial and critical hit, spawning two standalone spin-offs indirectly connected to the original, Dan Trachtenberg’s claustrophobic 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), and the less successful, The Cloverfield Paradox, (2018).
In the same year, Julius Avery’s ultra-violent Overlord (co-produced by JJ Abrams) was reported to have been a part of the Cloverfield series, but this was later denied.
The sequel, the fourth film within the “Cloverfield universe”, will reportedly not follow the same found-footage style as its predecessor, and Matt Reeves will not return to direct. Instead, Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures have employed Joe Barton, who’s previously written for Channel 4’s Humans, Beaver Falls, and the Netflix film iBoy, to write the sequel’s script, replacing Drew Goddard.
More recently, Barton stepped in to replace Terence Winter as the showrunner for HBO Max’s untitled Batman show centered on the Gotham City Police Department. His other work includes Giri/Haji, Cuffs, and Invasion. JJ Abrams will produce the sequel with Bad Robot’s head of film, Hannah Minghella.
Cloverfield follows five friends documenting an alien monster rampaging through New York City. In the final moments of the film, the US military levels Manhattan in a last-ditch attempt to destroy the creature, and while it seems likely the monster survived the bombing, the fate of the story’s characters appears less optimistic.
Critically and commercially successful, Cloverfield made $40 million on a $25 million during its opening weekend alone. Cloverfield was heavily promoted by a viral marketing campaign with cryptic teasers leading up to its release.
Both 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox are available to stream on Netflix now, and if you’re yet to see the original, (you must) it can be found on Amazon Prime Video.