Slusho Unrelated to Cloverfield?! Possible JJ Abrams Side Project?

Posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 by Peter Sciretta

JJ Abrams Slusho!

All this Cloverfield viral marketing has got me wondering. I have now talked to four people who have seen an early cut of Cloverfield. I haven’t heard one negative so far, although everyone is very reluctant to share any details about the film. But I have been able to confirm something that I have believed all along -

Slusho! has almost nothing to do with Cloverfield!

Yes, Paramount and Bad Robot are using Slusho! to promote Cloverfield. I’m not suggesting otherwise. Slusho! branded T-shirts were even handed out at the Paramount panel during Comic Con 2007 (where Cloverfield made a brief appearance).

What I’m here to tell you today is that Slusho! has very little to do with the plot of the movie, and only makes a brief appearance on the t-shirt of one of the characters. I’m being told that is pretty much the extent of it. So the question now becomes: How did a JJ Abrams inside joke become the focal point of the entire viral marketing campaign for a movie that has nothing to do with everyone’s favorite Japanese frozen beverage?

I’ve been told by numerous sources that Paramount, Bad Robot, and even JJ Abrams didn’t expect this much interest in their small January monster movie. Possibly afraid of a repeat of Snakes on a Plane, it appears that the studio doesn’t plan to up the marketing budget for the movie. So maybe Slusho! was JJ Abrams’ and Bad Robot’s way of advertising the movie on a low budget? Or…

Here is were the speculation begins…

Maybe Slusho! is actually part of another JJ Abrams project entirely. Bad Robot has at least seven projects set up at Paramount, spanning the comedy, romantic comedy, horror and supernatural genres. Could Slusho! be connected to one of these projects? Could a teaser trailer be shown in front of Cloverfield? Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

ADDED CLARIFICATION*: Please treat the following as a rumor, not fact. I do not have any factual evidence of another Slusho! project.

One of my credible non studio sources has heard that “Slusho! is a project that JJ Abrams has been working on for years now…” But everyone else I’ve talked to seems to know nothing at all. JJ Abrams is very good at keeping secrets, because he keeps them within the arms of his small production company. He’s big enough not to have to go through studio channels where the noise usually gets out.

*added on 2:35pm pt on December 10th

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  • Patrick
    It is related.. and heres why.

    The other viral site for Cloverfield is jamieandteddy.com and for weeks we've been waiting on Jamie Lascano (her name is on the back of a picture on 1-18-08.com) to open her gift from Teddy. Well the new video today shows her opening it. Whats inside the box? A slusho hat.
  • I didn't know they were screening Cloverfield already...
  • Sean
    Fuck this advertising bullshit.
  • Gaius
    I always thought Slusho was just an inside joke that gets inserted into anything JJ has his hands in as a kind of signature image. Maybe something he first imagined as a child, maybe a kind of cartoon he was working on when he first started in the business but never realized but keeps it as his "first dollar" of imagination, etc etc. Making it a part of something as serious as a film where a city gets destroyed and people die seems too campy for him considering his past work, so I never got how people were theorizing that if you drank Slusho, the monster would come for you.
  • Strange... I thought the whole time, Slusho! belongs to "Cloverfield" universe - not only of short appearance in the "Cloverfield" teaser, but also in MySpace blogs of Cloverfield characters (Hawk, Rob's brother). And Jamie Lascano is also the character of "Cloverfield".

    If it wouldn't belong to "Cloverfield"-Movie, it belongs at least to this dimension. Like in "Alias"... Hmm...

    Only one word: Abrams, you're really smart.
  • A.J.
    That's awesome news because there is supposedly a review by someone that screened Cloverfield and everyone thought maybe his spoilers were true. If this article is true about the use of Slusho that means the entire post is a bunch of bull.

    The fellow that posted this made Slusho a rather large part of the movie.

    www.1-18-08news.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4478
  • Jonathan
    Slusho made an appearance on episode of Heroes. Kristen Bell's character was slurping on it.
  • Coolio
    No doubt about it, this movie might just rule the box office of 2008.

    Question: Where does Slusho come into this? I've never heard of it.....

    If it is in the movie, why set it all on a drink?

    That might seriously degrade the total awesomness of the movie..

    I still think it has the possibilitie of being a Godzilla spin-off, Voltron(who is supposed to be our guardian(but would make a GREAT villian)), or a marvel or DC villian making a stand...

    The world may never know until opening day....:(
  • Avery
    Yeah,I read that review also,A.J. It seemed too thoroughly detailed to be made-up.He did make the plot out to really be based a lot on SLUSHO.It sounded like a great movie,but I wasn't too happy about what I heard about how the creature looked.Is it a fact that SLUSHO doesn't really have that much to do with the film??I hope so.The source of that review isn't very trustworthy and we all know that an obsessed fan's mind can be very creative. Hey Peter Sciretta why don't you take that link and send it to yor sources and see what they have to say about that review????
  • pat
    it may not be "IN" the movie but now the buzz is that all of this slusho viral marketing is the backstory... ie: what happens leading up to the monster appearing and why he appears. Peter you should watch the newest video that was released as a part of the viral marketing (where Jamie opens the christmas present (yesterday) it SCREAMS backstory. Oh and AJ and Avery, nobody following the marketing campaign thinks that "thewhistleblower" review is legit anymore. The newest video (the one from Jamie released yesterday) contradicts and pokes so many holes in it.
  • pat
    are we allowed to link other sites on here?
    if so, Coolio check this out
    cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com
    it's a blog following the viral marketing campaign. It's really starting to heat up now. I could explain roughly what's going on but it would be a book lol. I suggest reading up at that site starting a few months back. It starts slow but you'll enjoy it by the end and want to help figure out the clues.

    by the way, the new video is the 3rd post down
  • $hn@zy
    you know im not surprised that slusho really has nothing to do with cloverfield, but i still think that its hilarious how it became cloverfields biggest marketing campaign.
  • Geo
    Stomps like Godzilla, roars like Godzilla...in 1998, Godzilla last seen in the basement of Madison Square Guarden in New York . HMMMMMMMMM, makes me wonder???
  • One of my credible non studio sources has heard that “Slusho! is a project that JJ Abrams has been working on for years now…”

    "Slusho" was one of the code names for Cloverfield, so it's reasonable to think that the "Slusho" JJ Abrams has been working on for years is, in fact Cloverfield.

    From JJ Abrams speech at Comic-Con:

    I just want to say, I want a monster movie. I want a great monster movie. I wanted a monster movie for so long.
  • Robert
    Call me old fashioned but I got an idea...why not just wait until the damn movie comes out and then find out what it's all about? Crazy, I know.
  • A.J.
    Too true Robert, too true.
  • Pat
    hi dennis lol
  • Avery
    Hi PAT-you said that"NO-ONE"following the marketing campaign believes that review to be true??The guy reviewing the video that you're talking about on the 1-18-08 news site says he believes it to be 100%true ??I'm not into viral sites or all that much into rumors either.I'm not saying that the review is truely the movie but who knows??If it's not then the guy is very creative.I thought that it would make a great film,but I'm still not sure about how I feel about his description of the creature-"a human like face"!?!?
  • Avery
    Hey ,if it is the real deal...then that's sad,because that means that Hollywood can't keep any great secrets anymore.There can not be any cool surprises in film anymore.Like when the American "Godzilla"1998 came out,right before it was to be released,the monster designs leaked out.They disappointed most fans-then the creators denied them.When the film released we saw them to be true.This could be what's happening here,but the difference is that most people like or can accept what they have read.People should be more patient and those who know things should be able to keep secrets and not ruin it for the rest of us.Only time will tell,but either way=SHAME ON YOU WHISTLEBLOWER!!!!
  • pat
    I'm sure if you look around enough you'll find people who still believe it just like you'll still find people who think they're really digging up dragon bones in china that can be made into medicine. I didn't read the one that's on your posted link but if it's the same review from the same "thewhistleblower" there are too many large holes in it due to Jamie's newly released video
  • B
    From what that spoiler review said, it seems the movie would be rated R. But it was released today on cloverfieldclues.blogspot that Paramount has released it is rated PG-13. And for someone writing a review supposedly days (or weeks, I can't remember) later after viewing it, he included a lot of quotes. I personally don't want to believe that spoiler review is real. However, I read the spoiler of the last episode of Lost and didn't want to believe it either, and was very disappointed when I watched exactly what I read. I am crossing my fingers that JJ will give a better movie than that review describes!
  • Avery
    Yeah,I really don't want to believe that it was true either,just for the description of the monster.Also because ,I want to believe that Hollywood can still keep secrets/surprises for us in film.The story did sound great though,but it sounded very much a rated"R"-not "PG-13".Plus the fact that he did quote them exactly and was very detailed for someone who only saw the movie once and several weeks or months ago??It could just be a very imaginative fan.I do believe that SLUSHO has something more to do with the film,like the pre-story or something.If that review was real-wouldn't Paramount have it pulled like they did the trailers??That would really give it away.Are they making these videos to throw us off from believing that review because it is true??Who knows,until the movie actually releases?I'm definitely there when it opens,but I sure hope for some cool surprises,especially with the monster.I hope it won't be ruined for us all by some impatient idiots.
  • Sean
    They made these videos to fuck with you, Avery!
  • Miguel
    Slusho may NOT appear in the movie to a huge degree, BUT... The whole viral marketing campaign relies heavily on the fictitious Slusho and its parent company Tagruato, who provides the "secret ingredient" that makes Slusho so good. The movie may or may not provide much of a back story to explain the monster, but people who have been following the "history" in the online marketing campaign will have plenty of information to derive their own conclusions about where the monster came from and why; it's giving the folks who are REALLY interested a chance to formulate the origins of said beastie through the solving of a mystery via the clues available. I've pretty much figured it out, but it will be fun to see the movie and see how right (or wrong!) I may be. I think that's the case with a lot of fans who are awaiting this pic.
  • Bob M
    because the story is told through the video camera, there can be little or no 'backstory/exposition' in the movie. Abrams circumvents this by putting the missing elements out there (monsters's origin, motivation, etc etc) via the different ancillary sites (Slusho, jamieandteddy.com, Tagrauto etc). it's all there if you read it ALL and put it ALL together... the story related in the movie is just one person's (or camera's) POV; the movie won't feel complete story-wise unless you put it all together via elements provided outside of the movie.
  • shawn m
    you all are morons and the obivous is there. if you don't like spoilers then stop reading. the review is true and slusho has everything to do with the movie. they mention tommy so many times and wonder where he is and make this a point in the movie and talk about how the monster's face has a human resemblence BECAUSE the monster is TOMMY.

    ANYONE want to wager on this one.
  • Marius
    Unless you have something back this idiotic assertion up?

    I guess Slusho! has EVERYTHING to do with Lost, Heroes, and most obviously, Alias to then?

    Unless you can connect it to the movie, simply shouting "they didzors it because its sorta implying it" is as moronic as the ignorant twats who insisted that the dead in the Night of the Living Dead were rising because of space radiation.

    Unless you can tie it in, it remains speculation not backed by evidence and hence not connected to the movie. Because you think that writing your own fan fiction makes it actually canon does not change the reality that it ISNT.

    I swear, do all you fools REALLY need to have everything explained that badly. You think the whole point of it being a movie that isn't supposed to be explained but left open to mystery would have pointed it out for you.
  • gloria
    do someone knows what jj abrams told by te omic on about aladygma??
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