Fans have been begging Bad Robot Productions for more than 12 years for a Cloverfield 2 movie. But now that it has been announced, everyone seems a little sceptical. Will this new Cloverfield sequel actually live up to the standard created by the first movie?
Previous Not-Really-Sequels
Cloverfield is a sci-fi horror movie that was released back in 2008. Directed by Matt Reeves (yes, The Batman‘s Matt Reeves), the film follows a group of New Yorkers (played by Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, and Odette Yustman) who are going to spend their evening enjoying a going-away party. It very quickly turns into the most terrifying night of their lives when a monster the size of a skyscraper lands in the city and leaves all but death and destruction in its path. They record their struggle to survive as New York crumbles around them on a handheld video camera.
Since the first movie was released, there have been a couple of movies that have followed and been in the same universe but haven’t really connected with the original film. In other words, they weren’t Cloverfield 2 but spin-offs.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) was the first to come out and seems to be more of a side story than anything else.
This time, we follow Michelle (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who finds herself in an underground bunker after surviving a car accident with two men. She is informed by Howard (John Goodman) that because of a chemical attack that has rendered the air outside unbreathable, the only way they will survive is if they remain inside. For the most part, the bunker is quite comfortable. Still, Michelle cannot get past Howard’s controlling and menacing nature, so she decides to try and escape, bonding with the other survivor, Emmett (played by John Gallagher Jr.), in the process. After finally getting out, she discovers the truth about the outside world.
The film is very contained and has you on edge throughout the movie. But, for the most part, there is no relation to Cloverfield until the end of the movie.
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) follows a group of astronauts who are trying to solve Earth’s energy crisis aboard a space station. They activate it successfully but find themselves in a dark alternate reality where things quickly start going wrong.
The two movies have very little linking them to the original film besides a name and J.J. Abrams’s involvement in both of them, taking a script that was initially completely unrelated to Cloverfield and adding elements that would bring the films together.
Hopefully, Cloverfield 2 will manage to link all three movies together successfully.
An Official Sequel To Cloverfield
While a lot of the details of Cloverfield 2 are still under wraps, we do know that Joe Barton has been hired to write the script for the new film, and Babal Anvari will be directing it for Paramount. The movie will be produced by Bad Robot through J.J. Abrams, Hannah Minghella, and Jon Cohen. Bryan Burk, Drew Goddard, and Matt Reeves will join them as executive producers.
In January 2023, Matt Reeves hinted at the sequel’s storyline. In a SyFy interview for the first film’s 15th anniversary, Reeves suggested that Cloverfield 2 could draw inspiration from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Contagion is certainly really scary … There would be a scary [Cloverfield] movie to do for sure about the spread of the virus,” he explained.
With Matt Reeves’s inclusion in this movie, it is probably safe to assume that the 4th movie will more likely than not be the official Cloverfield sequel that fans have been hoping for. Or maybe it is. It’s anyone’s guess at this point.
Tell us, are you looking forward to the Cloverfield 2 movie? Other cool sci-fi sequels we would love to see: Equilibrium 2, Chronicle 2, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy 2.
Cloverfield |
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A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack. |
Studio: Bad Robot, Paramount Pictures |
Running Time: 85 minutes |
Release Date: January 18, 2008 |
Cast: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Odette Annable, Ben Feldman, Theo Rossi |
Director: Matt Reeves |
Writers: Drew Goddard |
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi |
Box Office: $172.4 million |