Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you’re well aware the Netflix surprised everyone on Sunday and released the new “Cloverfield” film, with only a quick trailer announcement during the Super Bowl as marketing. It was a mic-drop of a moment, and would have been even more powerful if the movie actually lived up to the sudden hype.
Unfortunately, fans who stayed up late on Sunday were sad to find out that “The Cloverfield Paradox” is just not good, and a poor follow-up to what was a surprisingly great film, “10 Cloverfield Lane.” Now, several days removed from the release, movie fans are left thinking, “What the hell just happened?”
Read More: Netflix Paid Insane Money For The Cloverfield Paradox
Never fear, Mr. Mystery Box himself, J.J. Abrams, took to Facebook to answer all those hard-hitting questions. And by hard-hitting, what they meant was carefully curated, mostly positive questions. Even though there was very little talk about the reception of the film, Abrams did drop a few nuggets of information that give a peek into the origin of “The Cloverfield Paradox,” as well as a hint/tease/hypothetical idea for a crossover film.
First, it’s crucial to understand how “The Cloverfield Paradox” came to be. Starting as a completely different film, called “God Particle,” the film was meant to be a standard sci-fi film. Once Bad Robot, aka J.J. Abrams, got involved, suddenly the word “Cloverfield” was thrown around.
“Originally, it was written by Oren Uziel, who wrote a draft that was its own thing, and was around for a while,” Abrams said. “…we started to think, ‘What are ways that this might fit into the world?’ But when we started shooting the movie, it was still something we were thinking about. Because the idea for the ‘Cloverfield’ series was not so much that it be this narrative throughline, but more that they be these really fun sort of thrill rides. Like, if you imagine an amusement park, that’s a ‘Cloverfield’ amusement park, and every ride has a different purpose, but they all connect in some way or another.”
So, how does a film that has already been mostly filmed suddenly turn into a threequel to a popular franchise? Short answer – not easily.
“While we were shooting, we were making adjustments,” Abrams said. “This was a movie that went through many different iterations as it went along.” You wouldn’t be wrong with thinking this sounds like the “square peg in a round hole” scenario. Sadly, the film clearly suffered, and that suffering has now been passed onto eager fans who were hoping for a great film.
Even as bad reviews come rolling in, the “Cloverfield” brand is alive and well. During the Facebook Q&A, Abrams even gave a few hints as to what future “Cloverfield” films might look like. One such idea includes a crossover between two of the female protagonists, Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Michelle and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ava, from “10 Cloverfield Lane” and ‘Paradox,’ respectively.
“We’ve talked about versions of things,” Abrams said. “When we did ’10 Cloverfield Lane,’ we were thinking Michelle – the character Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays – it’s such a sort of weird origin story of this kind of incredibly, I think, awesome heroine. The idea of following her story is really cool. And then at one point, we were like, ‘You know what would be really cool? What if they crossed paths with Gugu’s character Ava?’”
“You start to think of ‘what ifs,’” he continued. “And I think the bigger ideas that we’ve had about where this thing goes haven’t necessarily been those ideas, but they’ve kind of been fun theoretical offshoots.”
Don’t expect a “fun” potential crossover for “Cloverfield 4.” Reports have already come out that the fourth entry in the franchise is already done filming, and like ‘Paradox,’ started as a completely different film titled “Overlord.” The reported premise features U.S. troops who infiltrate a Nazi base in WWII, only to find a supernatural Nazi experiment.
Sounds like yet another ride at the “Cloverfield Amusement Park.” [via The Verge/Indiewire]