JJ Abrams 'Cloverfield' / 01-18-08

Basq

So, a super-secret kick arse trailer has been playing in front of special-screenings of 'Transformers' in the States and there are trailer descriptions available on the Web but apparently, it's one of the most innovative and exciting trailers in a long time.

I started reading the trailer description but stopped a sentence in as anyone who has seen it says it NEEDS to be seen.. don't ruin the suprise by reading the description.

All i really know about it is it's apparently based on The Host.

I have nothing but respect for JJ Abrams - i don't think he's done something i've not enjoyed. Sure - some more than others. But he is quite consistent.

Just am waiting for a trailer to surface!

EDIT: Bear in mind.. the film may not be called 'Cloverfield' as that was just a name on the reel with Transformers (which was itself called 'Cobra' to stop suspicion / early leakings etc). Apparently, the trailer does not give the film a name. Simply a date: 1-18-08 (18th January 2008)

BlitzKrieg

oooh spooky.

searching imdb now for hints...(can you give a link for the trailer description, some of us are too curious)
EDIT
nm found the info.

for those who want it spoiled


link:http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/06/29/jj-abrams-top-secret-trailer-for-cloverfield-in-front-of-transformers/



the rumours are flying that it could ve for the upcoming star trek film, but they are being squashed quickly.

Basq

IMDb doesn't even seem to have anything about it.

Trailer description is here... although I, for one, am waiting for the trailer!

Though the description is too damn tempting!

Karl Hungus

basquille wrote:

All i really know about it is it's apparently based on The Host.

Noooo!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Vokes

Its mad that theres no reference to it on IMDB / Wikipedia. A lot of work must've been put in to keep it quiet.

basquille wrote:

All i really know about it is it's apparently based on The Host.

So its probably a monster-flick?

Basq

SofaKing wrote:

Its mad that theres no reference to it on IMDB / Wikipedia. A lot of work must've been put in to keep it quiet.
I know.. i can't understand it either. I presume due to it having a release date of January 2008 that it's filmed in it's entirety.

Work of marketing genius really if the trailer generates a lot of buzz for a practically unheard of film.

SofaKing wrote:

So its probably a monster-flick?

All signs point to 'YES'!

Vokes

So they finally decided to do Godzilla 2, then

Basq

Christ... i've more faith in JJ Abrams than that monstrosity! *

Will keep eyes and ears out for a trailer and post here when released.



* pun intended!

projectmayhem

Karl Hungus wrote:

Noooo!!!!!!!!! :eek:

my thoughts exactly

johnny_ultimate

Never heard of a secret film before, so my curiosity is quite high now. Agree with Basquille about JJ Abrams. Loved the first two or three seasons of Alias, and Lost is terrific. I very much enjoyed MI3 as well, even though it seems to have a bad rep amongst some.

Basq

From a flick-around online, it's not exactly top-secret but details are very sketchy.

Some reports are saying it's being directed by Matt Reeves (who was chief-writer on Abrams 'Felicity'), being produced by JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk. And it's written by the phenomenal Drew Goddard.

S.M.B.

basquille wrote:

From a flick-around online, it's not exactly top-secret but details are very sketchy.

Some reports are saying it's being directed by Matt Reeves (who was chief-writer on Abrams 'Felicity'), being produced by JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk. And it's written by the phenomenal Drew Goddard.

Now I'm interested!!!!!!

Karl Hungus

basquille wrote:

And it's written by the phenomenal Drew Goddard.

The name sounded familiar, so I did a seach and found out the guy wrote a handfull of episodes on Buffy, Angel, Alias and Lost... I'm seeing nothing that would command the word "Phenomenal" about anything he's written. Mediocre would be more the word I'd use.

Basq

Karl Hungus wrote:

The name sounded familiar, so I did a seach and found out the guy wrote a handfull of episodes on Buffy, Angel, Alias and Lost... I'm seeing nothing that would command the word "Phenomenal" about anything he's written. Mediocre would be more the word I'd use.

Well clearly you've never seen some of the episodes of the above shows he's written.

He's very much an acclaimed writer and his episodes on each of the hit shows (Buffy, Angel, Alias and Lost) are some of the best episodes they have had to offer.

Maybe not phenomenal but he's a name that i trust. Both himself and Bryan Fuller are the two people in "TV-land" who rarely let me down.

Karl Hungus

basquille wrote:

Well clearly you've never seen some of the episodes of the above shows he's written.

He's very much an acclaimed writer and his episodes on each of the hit shows (Buffy, Angel, Alias and Lost) are some of the best episodes they have had to offer.

Maybe not phenomenal but he's a name that i trust. Both himself and Bryan Fuller are the two people in "TV-land" who rarely let me down.

Going by a list of episodes he's written on imdb.com I've seen everything he's done, as a matter of fact. A few episodes, I've seen a number of times. I have both Alias and Angel on DVD, and oddly enough, he's appeared after both series' have took severe nosedives in quality. I think being the executive story editor on the entire final season of Angel is nothing to be proud of either.

I think the kindest thing I can say is at least he didn't write that turgid muppet episode, Smile Time.

S.M.B.

Karl Hungus wrote:

Going by a list of episodes he's written on imdb.com I've seen everything he's done, as a matter of fact. A few episodes, I've seen a number of times. I have both Alias and Angel on DVD, and oddly enough, he's appeared after both series' have took severe nosedives in quality. I think being the executive story editor on the entire final season of Angel is nothing to be proud of either.

I think the kindest thing I can say is at least he didn't write that turgid muppet episode, Smile Time.

What's wrong with Smile Time?

Karl Hungus

S.M.B. wrote:

What's wrong with Smile Time?

Do you really want me to dignify that with a response?

S.M.B.

Guess not then. Whatever your opinion is, it'll just be wrong anyway.

ixoy

Karl Hungus wrote:

Do you really want me to dignify that with a response?

Yes. 'Smile Time' was wonderful - a great moment of off-the-wall humour for 'Angel'. Love it to bits.

As to Drew Goddard - never been that convinced of his writing ability. A lot of the work he did for Buffy, for example, was in Season 7 which was a weak season in that show. His other episode credits aren't over whelming either - capable but not stunning.

Karl Hungus

S.M.B. wrote:

Guess not then. Whatever your opinion is, it'll just be wrong anyway.

ixoy wrote:

Yes. 'Smile Time' was wonderful - a great moment of off-the-wall humour for 'Angel'. Love it to bits.

Shocking stuff there, ixoy.

On the whole, Angel was a very, very good show. During seasons 2 - 4 it was quite a dark piece of work, season 3 especially, which had an amazing story arc, and it was just an amazingly well-written show. With scenes like Angel just setting Darla and Dru on fire, Wesley getting his throat slit, and subsequent attempt on his life while in hospital, and lets not forget that finale at the end of season 3. What a way to go out!

Season 5 marked a complete change of pace. It stopped being dark, and it started to muck about with pure silly episodes about muppets, mexican wrestlers, running around Italy in comedic fashion, and Gunn urinating all over the office. Lets face it, it stopped being a well written show aswell. The whole ending was so ridiculously tagged on, as if they had a sudden rush to decide well, we need to be serious again and have a big bad finale!

To be frank, I was glad the show was cancelled. Infact, I wish it had been cancelled sooner. The whole 'Off the wall humour' just degraded the show as a whole, and it didn't need that kind of humour either, there was a perfectly good dark sense of humour working in the show before all that silliness came along. I'll tell you this, I laughed harder as Wesley's "I'll take away your bucket" line than anything in Smile Time.

qwertplaywert

i like jj abrams.....he had 2 great shows[well,until he left,then they both went to ****e]

faceman

i have never been excited about wantin to a see a trailer before until now! (except the transformers trailer of course!) have been following this the past few days but likewise cant find the trailer online.

Basq

faceman wrote:

i have never been excited about wantin to a see a trailer before until now! (except the transformers trailer of course!) have been following this the past few days but likewise cant find the trailer online.

With Transformers on general release tomorrow (in the US), it's bound to pop-up online very soon.

According to some sits Matt Reeves is now officially attached to direct. He's wrote some truely horrible stuff, Under Siege 2 and The Pallbearer to name some, but he made amends somewhat by co writing the excellent The Yards with James Gray.

Basq

He was also chief writer on JJ Abrams very creative and under-rated 'Felicity'

basquille

basquille wrote:

He was also chief writer on JJ Abrams very creative and under-rated 'Felicity'

I was never a fan of Felicity, something about it I just didn't like.

Basq

Deleted User wrote:

I was never a fan of Felicity, something about it I just didn't like.

It's a great show once you get past the initial slump in the opening 4 - 6 episodes. Watched all 4 seasons recently - it really got the JJ Abrams touch for the final few very odd episodes.

basquille

basquille wrote:

It's a great show once you get past the initial slump in the opening 4 - 6 episodes. Watched all 4 seasons recently - it really got the JJ Abrams touch for the final few very odd episodes.

I watched the first disc of season one on DVD and never went back. I must dig it out and give it another chance.

Mr E

Trailer (Shaky mobile-phone-cam version!)

... and website. Nice URL. http://www.1-18-08.com/

Basq

TmB wrote:

Trailer (Shaky mobile-phone-cam version!)

... and website. Nice URL. http://www.1-18-08.com/

Bootleg trailer gone.... not too pushed as i'd like to see the HD official one.

Website image is odd! :eek:

faceman

its finally has a (useless!) IMDB page..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/

johnny_ultimate

Synopsis from imdb:

a giant monster movie (refferred internally as The Parasite) which is shot using home video cameras from the point of view of real people who are experiencing the attack on New York City

If that is true, it is all kinds of exciting.

irishash

a lot of rumours around the net saying this could be a "godzilla" movie.

sony lost the rights in 2003 and people are pointing to the fact that japan is mentioned in the trailer and jj abrams love of old monster movie.

personally i think it isnt, but i love marketing like this - gets people talking and excited about movies.

Zaph

A friend on another website said he saw that someone had suggested elsewhere that it was an Americanised version of a Korean film called "The Host". He has no idea how reliable that is though.

Here's another bootleg version of the trailer that still seems to be working http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX8waQLp7Ls

Basq

Loads and loads on the Cloverfield news front today... so i'll start the re-gurgitation of what i've read.

** MINOR SPOILERS / DESCRIPTIONS REVEALED BELOW **

From ComingSoon.net:

And the enigma intensifies. It's been a busy past couple of days for that Untitled J.J. Abrams Project (aka "Cloverfield") we've been following. You can read our last report here.

Two websites dedicated to a chap named Ethan Haas are now live - one entitled EthanHaaswasright.com, the other, EthanHaaswaswrong.blogspot.com. The latter drives you to a blog that spends most of its time disspelling rumors while the former challenges you with a puzzle (where's Sydney Bristow when you need her?). Memorize the movement of the puzzle pieces and you'll be taken to raw video footage with a special message.

Tip: Look to the stars for help. You may have to e-mail someone named "Van" - he'll guide you through all five puzzles. We've given it a whirl...

What's it all mean? Is it all related? Beats us, but this is shaping up to be more than just a rumored "monster movie." And knowing J.J. Abrams' work, things are probably going to get a helluva lot more cryptic.

The Hollywood Reporter has also learned that filming began in New York in mid-June. The cast includes Michael Stahl-David ("The Black Donnellys"), Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel (Supercross) and Lizzy Kaplan ("The Class").

And more on the casting rumours from Slashfilm:

The Hollywood trade papers have just published some interesting articles on the Cloverfield madness. And with that we have learned a few new details about the film’s secret development. Apparently, Paramount greenlit the project in February around the same time that JJ Abrams agreed to direct Star Trek 11. The Hollywood Reporter writes:

"The casting process was just as mysterious. No scripts or even scene pages were sent out; agents who were contacted were simply asked if their client wanted to be in the movie or not. Eventually a cast, made up mostly of relative unknowns, was put together; it includes Michael Stahl-David (”The Black Donnellys”), Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel (”Supercross”) and Lizzy Kaplan (”The Class”)."

We have also learned that the film is being shot for around $30 million, which is very cheap compared to almost anything else being produced by a big Hollywood studio today. Cloverfield began shooting under the radar in New York in Mid-June. THR describes the film’s plot revolving “around a monster attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people.” So far we’ve been led to believe that the monster film is entirely shot from a consumer handheld camera, but The Reporter is unsure of that theory: “it is not clear if the entire movie follows that style.”

And of course, they have also confirmed the information that we’ve previously reported, Matt Reeves (Felicity) is directing based a script written by Drew Goddard (Lost, Alias).

Variety uncovered much less information on the project, running into the same “fake ignorance” that Paramount reps have been giving the media for the past week.

“Yet a Bad Robot staffer close to Abrams feigned ignorance about the trailer - which bears the company’s logo - Thursday afternoon.”

IGN has also reported that the movie is probably using the working title “Slusho,” which hardcore fans of Abrams’ Alias may remember as the Slurpee-type beverage that Vaughn offers to Sydney in the second episode of the series.

Apparently there was a public notice from Paramount Pictures of filming posted last week in downtown Los Angeles. Slusho was to shoot in several downtown locations during the late afternoon to early morning hours. Here’s a description of the scene:

“Exterior dialogue. Driving scenes. Occasional traffic & pedestrian control. Camera & equipment on sidewalk, street and property. 200 extras. Military vehicles. Destruction aftermath. Weapons brandished. Emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Exterior dialogue on fire escape on 8th floor.”

We agree with IGN, sounds like Cloverfield to us. However the Los Angeles location conflicts with the Hollywood Reporter story… Either way, it’s looking more and more like Cloverfield is Cloverfield and all these internet conspiracy theories that the film is just a front for a new Godzilla/Voltron/Lost movie are well, just conspiracy theories.

And another article from SlashFilm:

So what happens when you complete each of the five puzzles on the Cloverfield viral website EthanHaasWasRight.com? You get a video. But why go through all the work of solving the puzzles when you can just watch the videos on YouTube? That’s what we did. But one reader points out that “upon completion of the fifth puzzle, you can enter your e-mail address and name to (presumably) a mailing list, with the date August 1, 2007 etched in the top of the unit you type your information into.” So if you want to come along for the ride, you might want to start now.

I don't think i've ever been more pumped for a film i know so little about!

User45701

cheers for the info basquille

I think this is all very very bad. i wish they hadent aired the trailer and it had gone unknown because now this movie is the talk of the internet film forums and as a result i fear it will get over hyped people will expect so much from it, when you see it even if it is amazing it wont be as good. Most of my faurate films are films i had no expectations of what i was going to see when i went to see them(except for the sequels)

flogen

Anyone know what company is behind the viral campaign? Is it 42 Entertainment again?

faceman

it seems these websites have something to do with the film:

http://www.ethanhaaswaswrong.com/

http://www.ethanhaaswasright.com/

Cina

I'm in Vancouver for the summer and I saw the 'CloverField' trailer before Transformers in the cinema last night. I hadn't heard anything about it before I saw the trailer and all I can say is it was a bit of a mindf***!
A very interesting prospect of a film indeed.

Mr E

High quality QT now on Apple's trailer website. Looks great
(Note - now listed as 1-18-08)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/hd/

faceman

looks interesting, deffo one to watch out for.

Basq

Looks bloomin' fantastic!

Vokes

OK, that looks intriguing.

No doubt it'll get a WTF! reaction in the cinemas here shortly

johnny_ultimate

I watched the trailer a few days ago and was very, very impressed.
Someone is finally doing something different with a tied and tested genre.
Colour me excited, or if you are out of excited, orange.

Karl Hungus

If it is a remake of The Host, then they're doing the right thing and taking it in a different direction to the original. Looks quite decent.

Rabies

Taken from Empireonline

Now, the mystery deepens. Two new websites went online today. One called ethanhaaswasright.com and the other, naturally, ethanhaaswaswrong.com. The former is a tricksy little bugger, full of puzzles to unlock a number of freaky video clips. So far we've only managed to unlock up to level 4, but we're a bit thick and ham-fisted, so you may fare better. The latter may not even be anything officially to do with the movie. So get in there and see what you can find. Two things are for sure. 1) This is undoubtedly just the beginning. 2) This **** is gonna get weird. And pretty awesome. Oh god, our brains! Our poor, delicious brains!

Can anyone crack it?
www.ethanhaaswasright.com
www.ethanhaaswaswrong.com

faceman

Our mate JJ Abrams was interviewed briefly by harry knowles and told him that the ethan haas websites are nothing to do with him but that he has other sites out there with more clues. I see they have added another photo to the official site. www.01-18-08.com looks like the girl in the corner with the 9 on her t-shirt could be a photoshop job?

the original photo, are the 2 heads the same girl?

faceman

Turns out these sights have nothing to do with the "cloverfield" (01-18-08) film.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33261

i got to level 3 but got bored. I think there is a solution up somewhere now too.

faceman

faceman wrote:

Our mate JJ Abrams was interviewed briefly by harry knowles and told him that the ethan haas websites are nothing to do with him but that he has other sites out there with more clues. I see they have added another photo to the official site. www.01-18-08.com looks like the girl in the corner with the 9 on her t-shirt could be a photoshop job?

the original photo, are the 2 heads the same girl?

If you look between the girlls you can see what appears to be some kind of a monster.

Basq

Deleted User wrote:

If you look between the girlls you can see what appears to be some kind of a monster.

Ha ha... have seen this on AICN alright. Case of over-analysing methinks!

I see an "imp-ish type creature" but it's just frizzy hair from the girl on the left of the photo!

basquille

basquille wrote:

Ha ha... have seen this on AICN alright. Case of over-analysing methinks!

I see an "imp-ish type creature" but it's just frizzy hair from the girl on the left of the photo!

I was wondering what it was. I read on a number of sites that it was the monster. I have to admit that for the first time in years I'm curious about a film, but I'm afraid that it could turn into the next Snakes on a Plane.