During the Star Trek panel at WonderCon, JJ Abrams was asked to give a status update on a sequel to Cloverfield. I’m not going to pretend like some big news was dropped, as Abrams basically said what he always says. He reiterated that if they do a sequel, it won’t just be a business decision, and that they need a good idea before moving forward. Here is where things get a little bit interesting. Abrams says there is an idea.
I was just reading an interesting article in the new issue of Maxim (not available online, as far as I can tell) about 42 Entertainment, the marketing comapny behind The Dark Knight’s viral campaign when I stumbled across this video created by Alternative Reality Branding (via: FSR).
The bottom line effects of viral marketing on a film’s box office and DVD sales have yet to be proven. But watching this video on 42 Entertainment’s Why So Serious campaign will help make you a believer. It will be interesting to see how companies like 42 Entertainment and CampfireNYC (the film behind Terminator Salvation’s SkyNet campaign) will use the next few years to create a connection between the film and the potential audience. One can’t deny that the interactive experience is cool, but the arguemnt is if a viral is actually is worth the millions of dollars that it costs a movie studio.
For a film like The Dark Knight, I believe a viral keeps the fans excited and causes a word of mouth stir that is worthy of the investment. Fans feel like they are a part of the movie and take it upon themselves to promote the movie to friends, family, and anyone who will listen. On the other hand, Sony hired 42 Entertainment for The International. The resulting alternative reality game was just as good as the company’s Why So Serious campaign, but fans just wen’t interested and the turn out was minimal in comparison. My conclusion so far is that Virals only work in two arenas: 1. With a project hidden in mystery that fans are eager to uncover (ie Cloverfield) or 2. A Highly anticipated property that has a year or more runway to develop a connection with it’s audience.
Our friend Felipe from CSTSE points out that Tagruato, the evil Japanese corporation from the Cloverfield viral campaign, has a cameo in JJ Abrams‘ Star Trek. A skyscraper in a futuristic San Francisco (home to Starfleet Academy) features the Tagruato logo. A cool little Easter egg. Knowing Abrams, Star Trek is bound to be full of little nods like this to Abrams’ other films and Trek history.
The latest episode of South Park, titled Pandemic, had a sequence spoofing Cloverfield. You can watch the entire episode at South Park Studios, or just watch the Cloverfield clip below, thanks to our friends at Cloverfield Clues.
Posted on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 by Adam Quigley
During the Comic Con panel for Fringe, someone asked J.J. Abrams if there were any updates on a Cloverfield sequel. Abrams response started off very much in the same way that it did when he was asked about it before, but then he let slip a piece of information that is sure to spark conjecture amongst fans.
“There’s something we’re playing with now that may or may not happen. There’s an idea we have that plays with… it’s not a literal sequel.“
Unfortunately, that’s where the discussion ended. Abrams is known for being pretty tight-lipped when it comes to his projects, so all we can do is wonder what exactly him and director Matt Reeves (who he confirmed would be directly involved if it happened) have in store for us. Considering that they’re still talking about the sequel this late in the game, and that they’ve already established they wouldn’t want to just re-use the handheld gimmick in the same way they did before, it’s nice to know that they’re not just trying to get a sequel out there based purely on the success of the original. If they do it, it will be because they have a good idea to back it up.
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Here is a round up of stories that just didn’t make the /Film front page, or what we like to call…. Page 2!
Global Nerdy brings us the photo of the day: Speeder Dogs.
Charles Grodin will cameo in Jason Segel‘s new Muppet Movie. [mtv]
TorrentSpy already shut its doors earlier this year, and now they have been hit with a $110 million judgment against its parent company, Valence Media. The MPAA has won. [mashable]
Collider has a preview of their set report of G.I. Joe.
Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman have just completed a screenplay based on Mark Millar’s graphic comic book ‘Kick-Ass‘. [dailymail]
HollywoodInk has a poster for this year’s Summer movie season (pictured left).
Rotten Tomatoes has an exclusive video diary from the set of Quantum of Solace.
Vulture wonders what unsung comic book superheroes should star in The Avengers.
Ellen Page is set to play one of English literature’s most famous characters, the eponymous heroine of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. [Variety]
Topless Robot counts down the 11 Best Songs from Geek-Movie Soundtracks.
Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in the Marc Webb-helmed romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer for Fox Searchlight, which centers on a man (Gordon-Levitt) who falls hopelessly in love with a woman (Deschanel) who doesn’t believe in love. [variety]
CineVegas has announced their line-up which includes: The Rocker, Dark Streets, Your Name Here, Beautiful Losers, Chelsea on the Rocks, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Choke, and Schoof [thecircuit]
The Sundance Channel has been acquired by New York-based Cablevision Systems for $496 million in stock and cash. [imdb]
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has officially been asked to direct the remake to Hellraiser. [bloody-disgusting]
A bunch of websites are posting what they claim to be the first photos from Cloverfield 2. My friend Dennis from CloverfieldClues sent these over to me last week, and I wasn’t really sure they were newsworthy or not. Truth is, these are not photos from a Cloverfield sequel. The following photos are the result of the viral alternate reality game from the first film.
The pictures show the discovery of the Cloverfield monster and parasites by Tagruato subs, deep on the ocean floor, near Tagruato’s Chuai Oil Drilling Station. The depth meter on the second photo reads 10,027.5 Meters, which would be over six miles below the surface. These photos were taken before the events in the first Clvoerfield film. The sub probably disturbed the monster, which caused the destruction of Chuai Station, and the eventual destruction of New York City. So if anything, consider this the end of the prequel.
HollywoodInk
