Cloverfield has always thrived on secrecy, misdirection, and surprise, so it’s no shock that details surrounding its next sequel remain tightly under wraps. What is surprising, however, is that this time, the long-rumoured sequel may actually be built from the ground up as a direct follow-up to the 2008 found-footage phenomenon.
Over the years, the franchise has taken an unconventional route, transforming existing scripts into loosely connected sequels. Director Babak Anvari, who was announced to helm the project in 2022, recently addressed the film’s status while promoting his latest feature, Hallow Road, at SXSW. In an interview with Countdown City Geeks, Anvari remained tight-lipped but reassured fans that the project is still alive. “So sad that I cannot because everyone on that team is very secretive, which I understand,” he teased. “But whatever happens, just know that hopefully you’re going to get something amazing.”
It has been 17 years since Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield dropped audiences into a shaky-cam nightmare, following a group of young New Yorkers as they scrambled to survive the onslaught of a mysterious skyscraper-sized monster. The film’s found-footage format and viral marketing campaign helped it stand out in the genre, setting the stage for what would become one of the most unconventional franchises in modern sci-fi. Rather than releasing direct sequels, producer J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot opted for a unique strategy — taking unrelated scripts and reworking them into Cloverfield projects.
Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane was the first example of this experiment, initially developed as a thriller titled The Cellar before being retrofitted to connect with the Cloverfield mythology. The result was a claustrophobic and suspenseful sci-fi thriller with only a tangential link to the original. The next entry, The Cloverfield Paradox, followed a similar path, originating from a script called God Particle. The final product attempted to explain the franchise’s disparate elements by introducing an inter-dimensional event that theoretically unleashed monsters into multiple timelines.
Given the way previous Cloverfield films have been revealed (often with sudden announcements, unexpected trailers, and even same-day releases), it’s difficult to predict when the new instalment will surface. The franchise has never followed a traditional rollout, and that unpredictability is part of its identity. The fact that news has been scarce for two years isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, if anything, it’s in line with how the series operates.
Whether this sequel will return to the found-footage roots or embrace a new format remains unknown. What is clear is that a Cloverfield movie built from scratch rather than stitched together from an existing project could be exactly what fans have been waiting for.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
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