Sci Fi Magazine Cloverfield Article

The February issue of Sci Fi Magazine has another interview with Bryan Burk, producer of Cloverfield. If you're not able to get your hands on a copy of the magazine just yet, Sci Fi Wire, the magazine's online counterpart, has created two smaller clips of the article. Check those out here and here.

"We've only had two internal screenings, and one was for a group of people who had not seen the script. All of their reactions, to quote them, was that it was one of the rare occasions where the movie lives up to the trailer. I think people are going to love it. It's like a nonstop ride. The experience of watching this movie is like nothing I've personally ever seen ... I hate using bad cliches, but it's an authentic, visceral thriller."

Thanks to Dennis for the scans of the article.

Cloverfield Mobile Phone Advertisement Contest

E-Commerce Times and TelevisionPoint.com have reported Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot will use the mobile platform to promote Cloverfield and reward one lucky winner.

"Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot are both innovation leaders in their own right, so when we partnered on the upcoming film 'Cloverfield,' we wanted to find cutting-edge ways to market the film. We released an exclusive film clip along with a contest whereby the person with the most clip views will be the first one to see the movie before its release on Jan. 18. We're very excited to partner with MSN Mobile on this promotion because it extends our reach and connects us with our audience on an additional digital touch point." said Amy Powell, senior Vice-president, Interactive Marketing, Paramount Pictures.

Microsoft began to placing advertisements on its MSN Mobile page today, moving into the mobile phone advertising business. Jaguar (the car company) and Paramount Pictures will be the first brand advertisers to use the ad service, which will place banner-style ads alongside existing text advertisements on MSN Mobile pages, Microsoft said.

So, be on the lookout for more information about this promotion/contest.

Thanks to Adrian and Jason for helping with the photo illustration.

Cool Stuff: Cloverfield Wrap Party Invitation

Slashfilm has found a photo of a cast and crew invite to the Cloverfield wrap party.

Rob was going to Japan, and a bunch of friends gathered to throw him a going away party. But that was just the beginning. We’ve all seen the trailer (you know, the one where the guy clearly saying “It’s Alive!” and not “It’s a Lion!” right before the statue of liberty’s head rolls down the street), but did you know that Rob had ANOTHER gong away party?

Found on eBay, is a photo of a cast and crew invite to the Cloverfield wrap party which happened under the guise of “The 2nd Attempt Rob & Beth Going Away Party”, which happened on Saturday August 18th. The invite’s headline reads: “Bon Voyage Rob… Again!”

On the bottom right hand side you will see the many logos the production went under, Cloverfield, Slusho!, Chocolate Outrage, Cheese and 1-18-08. A cool piece of Cloverfield behind the scenes memorabilia.

Update: After vigorously searching, I've found the eBay page for these items. These items sold for $34!! Hopefully we'll see some more popping up soon.

Description
CREW GIFT FROM JJ ABRAMS UPCOMING FILM 'CLOVERFIELD"-AKA-"SLUSHO", "CHOCOLATE OUTRAGE" "CHEESE", ETC.- PERFECT FOR THE JJ ABRAMS/ MATT REEVES FAN . THE SHOULDER BAG IS CHOCOLATE BROWN CANVAS WITH THE TITLES OF THE FILM IN T'S VARIOUS FORMS PRINTED ON IT, AN AGED CREW BASEBALL HAT WITH THE SLUSHO LOGO, AND A MATCHING INSULATED MUG TOO. PLUS AN INVITE TO THE WRAP PARTY (LONG SINCE GONE) AND A HUMOROUS CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT WITH SOME WACKY INSIDE JOKES FROM FILMING. GREAT FOR THE FAN /COLLECTOR. WILL SHIP WORLDWIDE, WITH A TRACKING NUMBER. A GENEROUS PORTION OF THIS SALE WILL HELP FEED THE HUNGRY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. CHEERS.

Cloverfield Terror Lasts 90 Minutes

Sources have reported to ShockTillYouDrop.com the running time of Cloverfield will be a mere 90 minutes.

A silly report? Perhaps. But there are those out there who do base their movie-going decisions based on running time. ("Wait, that movie's an hour and forty-five minutes? Screw that!") For theaters owners - the shorter the run time, the more screenings per day.

That said, when it comes to Matt Reeves' "destructo-vérité" Cloverfield, are we going to get an epic-length account of New York City's annihilation? Nada. Sources tell Shock, Reeves and company have cobbled together a lean 'n mean 90-minute tale.

Just enough time to bring the fam to the theater for a winter afternoon matinee and be out in time for an Outback Steakhouse dinner.

Star Trek Teaser Attached to Cloverfield

Trekmovie.com and ScreenRant.com confirm the Star Trek XI Teaser Trailer will premiere in front of Cloverfield. The trailer should show up online (officially) a few days later at the usual locations (Apple Trailers, etc).

There is no confirmation as to why they picked Cloverfield. Chances are, it's to boost ticket sales from rabid Trek fans, and of course, the JJ Abrams connection probably doesn't hurt.

Cloverfield Trailer Sparks Yahoo! Searches

Yesterday, Yahoo! posted an article about the effects of Cloverfield on their search engine.

Cloverfield Monster Revealed?
Mysterious New Cloverfield Trailer Sparks Searches
By Erik Gunther
Tue, November 27, 2007, 3:23 pm PST
We're counting the days as January 18 draws closer. What's special about that ho-hum Friday in the middle of January? Well, that's the date the shrouded-in-secrecy "Cloverfield" is scheduled to land in theaters.

The trailer for the mysterious monster movie made its debut back in July and sparked huge buzz. Since then, the buzz has quieted a bit, but an ardent group of movie buffs are still scouring the Web for the scoop on the flick.

This week we witnessed a 371% increase in searches on "cloverfield monster revealed" after a new trailer offered a glimpse of the horror to come. Related queries on "cloverfield monster" and "cloverfield trailer" have also smashed through the Search box. Diabolical director J.J. Abrams, the mastermind of all this hype, has jumped 116% in searches over the past week.

The Web-based viral marketing component has been key in keeping the movie's buzz alive. Searches on "cloverfield clues" jumped 112% as sneaky sleuths attempted to unravel a few of the film's mysteries. One question as of late—does the movie's classified colossus have anything to do with the legendary Cthulhu? Searches on the horrific creation of author H.P. Lovecraft soared 64% this week as monstrous theories circulated around the Web.

We can't tell if Cthulhu is involved in the Cloverfield saga, but the latest cinematic clue to make a splash in Search is "slusho." Stir that latest tidbit with past buzzworthy bits such as "cloverfield myspace," "ethan haas," and "1-18-08" and you'll find yourself knee deep in the film's mysterious mythology.

Thanks to the guys at http://1-18-08.blogspot.com/ for finding the article.

New Official Cloverfield Poster

Paramount has provided both Slash Film and Shock Till You Drop the newest official Cloverfield teaser poster.

It’s basically the same as the previous poster, but now with the official movie title "Cloverfield."

New Cloverfield Trailer??

According to comingsoon.net we are going to see a new trailer with a title on November 16. The trailer will be released for one of the previews for Beowulf. Now as exciting as this may be it could be one of those see it to believe it things. Will it be called 1-18-08, Cloverfield, who knows! Stay tuned and we get it out there as soon as we can!

Who is Jessica Lucas?

The Hollywood Reporter mentions actress Jessica Lucas as starring in JJ Abrams' upcoming 1-18-08/Cloverfield movie. But who is she, and what character does she play? My guess would be Lily, girlfriend of Jason Hawkins. Jessica has been in "The Covenant," "She's the Man" and the ABC series "Life as We Know It." She also will play Veronica Lake, aka Ronnie, on the CBS hit, "CSI."

Cloverfield NOT Voltron, Variety Confirms

Variety has confirmed that a Voltron movie is being made, but not by Paramount and not by JJ Abrams. 20th Century Fox-based production company New Regency has partnered with the Mark Gordon Company to adapt "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" into a possible franchise.

Gordon has been developing the pic, based on the popular 1980s Japanese animated TV series, comicbooks and toy line, with Justin Marks penning the script.

Should the deal close, project would be one of the company's more high-profile efforts since Robert Harper took over as chairman-CEO of Regency Filmed Entertainment earlier this year.

Interest in the property hit a high after "Transformers" turned into a box office juggernaut, raking in nearly $300 million to date.

New Regency, which hasn't had a major hit since "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in 2005, sparked to the idea of a potential franchise.

Company's upcoming pics include "Alvin and the Chipmunks," the Doug Liman-directed "Jumper," the Alexandre Aja-helmed "Mirrors" and the Eddie Murphy starrer "Starship Dave."

Marks' take is described as a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders.

Gordon will produce with Lawrence Inglee and Jordan Wynn, who are shepherding the project at the Gordon Co., which has Roland Emmerich's "10,000 B.C." bowing next from Warner Bros. Mark Costa and Ford Oelman are exec producers.

"Voltron" pic has been in the works for nearly three years, with Jim Young's Animus Films funding its development.

Marks has become a go-to guy in Hollywood for comicbook, videogame and toy-based adaptations.

He is adapting "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" for Joel Silver at Warner Bros., as well as the Green Arrow pic "Supermax," also at the studio. Marks also has "Street Fighter" in the works at Hyde Park and Fox.

I'm not sure if it was the mass destruction, the misheard line, "It's a lion, it's huge!" or just a fanboy's fantasy that first created all the Voltron hype surrounding 1-18-08/Cloverfield/Whatever. But, we now have definite confirmation that this movie is not Voltron. In fact, for now, I'm going to stick to my previous theory about this movie's monster(s).

JJ Abrams Producing More Untitled Movies

As reported in Variety, JJ Abrams is producing yet another untitled thriller. It appears even fewer details are known about this film. Our fan favorite, Cloverfield, and this newly announced untitled movie are both part of a seven (at least) movie deal Abrams and Bad Robot have with Paramount Pictures.

Paramount Pictures has acquired a pitch for an untitled supernatural thriller that will be written and directed by Josh Marston and produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot.

Project was pitched to Abrams by Marston. The filmmaker, who made a splash with "Maria Full of Grace," has also been developing an adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel "Fortress of Solitude."

Details on the pitch were being kept under wraps, as is Abrams' usual m.o. Still, only a year into a five-year pact with Paramount, Bad Robot has quietly set up at least seven projects, covering the comedy, romantic comedy, horror and supernatural genres. It's expected that Bad Robot will generate at least two projects a year for the studio, but Abrams' shop is keeping tight-lipped about all of them.

Abrams unveiled the tentatively titled "Cloverfield" with a teaser trailer on prints of "Transformers." The modestly budgeted disaster pic that will open Jan. 18is directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard, based on an idea by Abrams.

Abrams will begin directing "Star Trek" on Nov. 5, scripted and exec produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Pic's produced by "Lost" exec producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof, and Stratton Leopold, who worked with Abrams on "Mission: Impossible III." "Star Trek" opens Christmas Day 2008.

Micah at CHUD.com (beware of pop-up ads) has chimed in on what he thinks about this new development.

I guess this is Abrams’ signature much as the Shocking! Final! Twist! was M. Night Shyamalan’s for a time. And I think it’ll get old just as fast. I understand that with a hungry internet media presence out there, it’s very difficult to preserve the mystery around any given film. And who can blame J.J. for wanting to generate some buzz with a low-budget monster flick with no stars? I don’t begrudge him that at all. But it just seems silly to ascribe that sort of intrigue to everything you’re involved with, regardless of genre. What once seemed unique and thrilling can become an annoying gimmick in the click of a mouse, and the question of whether this will hurt or help these lower-scale films has yet to be answered. We’ll see in January.

So far, this Blogger is locked-in and ready for the ride!

1-18-08 Comic-Con Audio and Video

The guys over at Movie Web have uploaded the audio from JJ's appearance. The reports we received yesterday afternoon were fairly spot-on. He seemed rushed, but that's understandable. He didn't really have too much information for the fans, and he is involved in so much more right now with Star Trek XI and Lost.

So check out the audio at Movie Web. Note: Only the first two minutes are JJ. The rest is about The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Audio of the 1-18-08 and The Spiderwick Chronicles Panels at Comic-con 2007

I also found this video on YouTube. Fast forward through the first minute and a half to see JJ up on the big screen.

EW Article about Monstrous

Entertainment Weekly has just published some secrets. Apparently the poster we've all seen by now is real. But, the version shown on the EW Web site lacks a title. So, was the title fake? Or was that a test by JJ to see how the fans liked it?

Check out the article while we wait for more information from Comic-Con.

JJ's Mystery Movie: Secrets Revealed

As for the monster itself, contrary to Internet speculation, it isn't a parasite, and it ain't a colossal Asian robot, either. (Some suspected Abrams was mounting a live-action version of the Japanese anime/manga classic Voltron. Nope.)

Washington Post Article

The Washington Post has a decent article about the fans of the 1-18-08 trailer.

The current mysterious movie trailer has the release date "1-18-08." Fans looking online found the Web site 1-18-08.com, which featured pictures of the characters in the trailer. Watching the trailer frame-by-frame, some enthusiasts noticed that one of the characters was wearing a T-shirt for Slusho, a fictional beverage that had been mentioned in "Alias." Online sleuthing led to the Web site slusho.jp, a promotional site for the nonexistent Slurpee-like drink. Records showed that the Slusho Web site was registered before the trailer aired, indicating that the site almost had to be official.

But after the initial rush of discoveries, fans began to question: Where is the rest of the game? Unforums.com, a forum devoted to alternate-reality games, features more than 6,000 posts -- which have been viewed about 400,000 times -- from players searching for clues since July 3, when the trailer first appeared before the "Transformers" movie.

If they have indeed found a "rabbithole," the fans do not know how to enter, and they're left hoping that J.J. Abrams will unleash a white rabbit to lead the way.

Check it out.

Channel 4 Article

Channel 4 has an article up about the movie and the hype. It's a good read.

http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=162206

I especially like this snippet.

The truth about 'Slusho', Ethan Haas, the name 'Cloverfield', the cast (which seems to consist of relative unknowns so far), the shoot and the budget (which the 'Hollywood Reporter' said was "believed... to be about $30 million") will come out eventually. In the meantime, whatever the facts, it's fascinating to observe this new relationship between Hollywood and online fandom, and how smart mystery-wrights like Abrams orchestrate proceedings.

Movie Title to be Released at San Diego Comic-Con

I found this on www.reallyscary.com

Cloverfield Project (aka 1-18-08) Title Being Released at San Diego Comic Con
Ken Tarallo, an fx specialist, is working on the JJ Abrams Cloverfield Project (now going by the moniker 1-18-08). Ken mentions on his forum that the official name will be announced at the San Diego Comic Con.

Well, there you have it. So, it looks like in two weeks we'll have an answer to that question. Maybe that will give us some insight as to what the hell this movie is about!

Ken Tarallo's site: http://www.frightstuff.com/
Comic-Con site: http://www.comic-con.org/