10 Cloverfield Lane was a big surprise success earlier this year. Not because people weren’t expecting it to be a hit, but rather because no one even saw the film coming at all. Development was kept hidden for as long as possible and then when the first trailer landed, it kind of blew everyone away as it was revealed that this was a “blood relative” of the original Cloverfield movie. Not a sequel, but just maaaaaaybe set in the same world. It’s a model that is working for Abram’s Bad Robot and Paramount and its certainly making people more excited for any other potential Cloverfield films out there.
And it’s a formula they’re looking to continue with for the next part of the Cloverfield cinematic Universe, as they call such things these days. Only this time, the film is going to be called God Particle and not use the Cloverfield name in any way. Not much is known of the film’s plot as of yet, other than that it will focus on a team of astronauts who make a “terrifying discovery that challenges all they know about the fabric of reality, as they desperately fight for survival.” So almost potentially more of an original story of sorts. We’ll have to wait and see.
Shooting for the film has reportedly already been completed by director Julis Onah (The Girl is in Trouble) and is set to star David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the leads with Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl, and Chris O’Dowd all in supporting roles.
According to The Wrap who broke the news, the studios are also quietly developing even more movies for the shared Cloverfield universe, with the hope that much like Disney’s plans for Star Wars, a film can be released in the Cloverfield universe each year. I didn’t even know there was more of a story to tell around it, but it seems Abrams has a clear plan in place and believes there is still some narrative to mine.
While I’m not sure I like the idea of a Cloverfield movie ever year, one thing I’ve liked so far with what I’ve seen and what’s been planned with God Particle is how different all the films are. 10 Cloverfield Lane was only very loosely connected with that first film, but still felt very unique and different in its own right. I think it’s a clever move, because it can make each film appealing in its own way, but also free up writers to tell their own story, only needing to loosely tie it into the Universe without needing to worry to much about impacting the timelines. That the first two films didn’t reveal too much and kept a lot of things hidden, only helps this as well. The films are all dealing with different characters and stories, so the chance of creating massive plot holes is slim, though I’m sure it’s still going to be a big challenge the further they develop the franchise to still tie everything together loosely.
The good news to everything is that the film’s release is not too far away, so we don’t need to be left too long to speculate. The film is due for release in the US on February 24, 2017 and hopefully here soon after. We’ll likely get some trailer in the near future to help start building the excitement for this one. The two Cloverfield films have not been massive movies when compared to bigger Disney or Warner Bros franchises, but the way the film’s are getting handled, I have expectations that they could indeed become that.
I’m also curious if Abrams may not try and tie in some of his other films also featuring extraterrestrial monster, like Super 8, into the whole franchise and lead us down another rabbit hole even more. Who would’ve though that a simple found-footage monster movie could spiral into something so much bigger?
Last Updated: October 28, 2016
