The nearly 70 percent drop in Cloverfield’s box office take last weekend has not deterred Paramount Pictures from starting early talks with director Matt Reeves to helm a sequel to the Monster Movie That Ate the Internet. In fact, Variety reports that Cloverfield 2 (our title) may very well be Reeves next film, depending on how fast Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard can put their hands in a circle and call out “Go Team.” No others details were revealed, but is that a surprise?
The ink has settled on Reeves’s other project, The Invisible Woman, described as a “Hitchcock-style thriller that probes the mind of a former beauty queen who turns to a life of crime to protect her family.” The deal was made with GreeneStreet Films, complete with a script by Reeves, who will also produce the film alongside J.J. Abrams and a few others. Is the title’s meaning literal? It’s hard to say, unless the word “probe” is a hint. Try scanning the description with a black light.
Of course, several hours ago, Reeves’s name was rumored to be in the running for the newly vacant, day-old directing gig on The Wolf Man. Looks like he officially has other half-fish to fry. As for a Cloverfield 2, success wouldn’t be a sure thing, even with a small budget, as the original film’s reception was far loss positive amongst audiences than a similarly Internet-buzzing and viral marketed movie like Saw. While I thought the original was everything its filmmakers promised and more, I’d much rather revisit Rambo theatrically and I don’t really care to see Cloverfield on DVD. Simply mentioning Reeves’s landmark movie makes some people woozy or behave like they lost a contact in shag carpet. Seconds?
January 30th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Finally! Sue Storm gets her own feature. Starring a prego Jessica Alba (since pregnant is soooo hot at the movies right now).
January 31st, 2008 at 2:12 am
I say if the same people come up with another great story with more characters for us to care about… why not? If it continues or explain more of the mythos without tainting the original (the Force is microscopic bacteria in your DNA???) I say go for it.
At the same time I’m more than ecctatic with what we have with CLOVERFIELD. I’d be content with DVD extras. Shorts of other footage from around the city that night that explain more perhaps.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:24 am
A second Cloverfield would only be any good if it had a spin on it like the first (something different though) rather than the route Blair Witch took with it’s sequel - as in just another horror movie. And a shaky Witch visible up close, suspense burst like a tomato thrown at the cinema screen.
Saw sequels are ace and have kept the whole game flowing because even though the first film was low budget and shot in a, what, about seven hours, there was sight there for a franchise; you know, who the hell is that guy in the middle of the floor?! As opposed to Blair Witch II with another house in another forest, another spooky person outside.
Basically, it seems the mark is higher for the lower you can go as in your budget and the time it takes to make the film. Once that film is released, its only gonna lead to a mainstream sequel, unless something new is unleashed, like faking the death of Matt Reeves right before shooting begins! Otherwise, its a long way down.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:03 am
Mo’ monster, mo’ money!
January 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am
I for one hope they’re able to find someone fast to take over The Wolf Man. This seems to be the most promising horror project in development right now, so I’d hate to see it derailed.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:28 am
Was SAW really that well recieved? I caught Cloverfield at Midnight at the Mann’s Chinese and peopel went absolutely ape-poopy for it and everyone I’ve spoken to really enjoyed it as well.
I caught SAW at a press screening a few weeks before theatrical release. Every single person in the screening room was moved to tears of laughter during the films big leg-sawing climax. But it did spawn three sequels to date, so maybe I’m just not surveying that ever important “12-Year-Old Boy” demographic.
But a Cloverfield sequel could be tits.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Wouldn’t the sequel just be a bunch of Presidential speeches about how “the monsters hate our freedom”? Then I guess they’d confiscate all the Godzilla movies and merchandise.
Sorry Japan, but you’re totally in the Axis of Monsters!
January 31st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
@ Chris, the sequel doesn’t necessarily have to be like that, it could be a prequel, or the story told from the point of view from another group of people or the military.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
@Cinemaniac1979 : Say what you want about what has become of the Saw series but the first Saw movie is imo on of the best modern day horror movies and that twist at the end ranks right up there with other great twist like from Fight Club. Critics just seem to stuck up about it. On IMDB Saw 1 is one of the highest rated horror movies.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Really? You think SAW is one of the best modern day horror movies? That’s cool, I respect your opinion. Personally, I just hate movies that have:
1. Shitty music video editing. The “kill” scenes could’ve been so much better if they were allowed to play out at a normal pace and not cut like the editor was coked out of his mind.
2. Hideous acting. Cary Elwes in particular. Plus the most cringe-worthy dialogue this side of a Resident Evil game.
3. A wholly inappropriate score. I like Charlie Clouser– especially the work he did with NIN. But the hardcore-crazy music just didn’t work for me. This movie should have been about dread. A slow burn that really ratchets the tension (and the gore) as the story progresses. Maybe I’m jaded and cynical, or maybe I’ve seen too many well written-well acted movies, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I think the music was a large part of it. And the script. And the acting.
The twist was stupid and predictable (especially knowing it was the writer’s first feature– n00bs can’t resist throwing in a “mind blowing” twist even if it hurts the overall impact of the story). I’ll credit them this: they did a fairly decent job of justifying the twist in part one in SAW III but that doesn’t excuse the lazy writing in the first one. If Jigsaw wasn’t able to set the whole thing up without help– as we see he wasn’t in part III– then they should have better worked his assistant into the first story. I CALL SHENANIGANS.
With a little luck, they’ll be remaking this one in a few decades (and all the people who saw it when they were 12-25 can come onto the 3-D holographic Internet and bitch about the travesty) and hopefully they’ll make it an actual STORY and not just some cool deaths, a bullshit cliche cop/serial killer story, and a dumb fucking twist intended to make you forget that the last 90 mins of shit they just sat though.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
It would be kool if cloverfield 2 was about an armt man or woman cause u guys know how some army people have cameras on their guns or helmets i think that would be awsome.What do u think it should be about?
February 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Oops i meant to say army.