| Cloverfield | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Matt Reeves |
| Written by | Drew Goddard |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Michael Bonvillain |
| Edited by | Kevin Stitt |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25–30 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $172.4 million |
Cloverfield is a 2008 Americanfound footagemonsterhorror film directed byMatt Reeves and written byDrew Goddard. It starsLizzy Caplan,Jessica Lucas,T.J. Miller (in his film debut),Michael Stahl-David,Mike Vogel, andOdette Yustman. In the film, six friends attempt to flee from a monster that attacksNew York City.
Development began when producerJ. J. Abrams started conceptualizing a monster film and enlistedNeville Page to design the eventual creature, calledClover. In February 2007, the project was secretlygreenlit byParamount Pictures and produced by Abrams'sBad Robot.Principal photography took place inLos Angeles and New York City in 2007. The project had several working titles, includingSlusho,Cheese, andGreyshot. As part of aviral marketing campaign, a teaser trailer was released ahead of screenings ofTransformers (2007) without a title. The final title was revealed in a second teaser trailer attached to screenings ofBeowulf (2007). With limited pre-release details, it garnered online speculation, including forums and websites dedicated to uncovering hidden information about the film. Several tie-ins, including aprequel manga series, were released as part of the marketing campaign.
Cloverfield was released on January 18, 2008, and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Reeves's direction and thecinéma vérité style narrative. It earned $172 million worldwide at the box office against a $25 million budget. It is the first installment of theCloverfield franchise, followed by10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 andThe Cloverfield Paradox in 2018. A direct sequel is in development.
Thefootage from a personal camcorder is recovered by theU.S. Department of Defense in the area "formerly known asCentral Park", bearing a disclaimer about multiple sightings of a case designated "Cloverfield".
On April 27, 2008, Rob Hawkins wakes up with Beth McIntyre in her father's apartment before embarking on a date acrossNew York City andConey Island.
On May 22, 2008, Rob's brother Jason and Jason's girlfriend, Lily Ford, throw a surprise farewell party for Rob at hisLower Manhattan apartment before he moves toJapan for his new job. Jason asks Rob's best friend, Hudson "Hud" Platt, to film testimonials for Rob during the party. Beth, upset by Rob's lack of communication after their one-night stand, brings another man to the party. Beth and Rob argue, and she leaves shortly before a massiveearthquake occurs, causing a brief citywidepower outage. The local news reports acapsizedoil tanker nearLiberty Island. From the roof, the partygoers witness an explosion in the distance and flee as flaming debris flies in their direction.
As the partygoers flee, the severed head of theStatue of Liberty falls into the street. In the chaos, Hud recordsan enormous creature several blocks away, collapsing theWoolworth Building. Rob, Jason, Lily, and Hud take cover in a nearby convenience store, sheltering from the smoke and debris that have resulted from the building's collapse. When they emerge, they find their friend Marlena Diamond covered in dust, in shock from seeing the creature "eating people." When the group attempts to evacuateManhattan (through theBrooklyn Bridge), Rob receives a message from Beth, who is trapped in her apartment at theTime Warner Center. However, the creature's tail destroys the Brooklyn Bridge, killing Jason. While the group retreats back to Lower Manhattan, news reports show theArmy National Guard's42nd Infantry Division attacking the monster and hostileparasites falling off its body.
Rob, Hud, Lily, and Marlena venture up toMidtown Manhattan to rescue Beth from her apartment. Finding themselves in a battle between the creature and the military, they hide in a nearby subway station and decide that staying underground will be safer. While walking through the subway tunnels toward Midtown, they are attacked by a group of parasites, one of which bites Marlena. The four escape the tunnels and enterBloomingdale's, where they are found by soldiers and taken to afield hospital within. When Marlena begins to bleed from her eyes, she is forcibly taken away from the group by a biohazard team before her body swells and explodes in a matter of seconds.
Rob, still intending to save Beth, persuades a commander to release them. He is informed when the last evacuation helicopter will depart before the military executes its "Hammerdown Protocol", asaturation bombing operation which will kill the monster but also destroy Manhattan. The survivors travel to the Time Warner Center, find Beth impaled on exposedrebar, and rescue her. The group then travels to theGrand Central Terminal, where they reencounter the creature.
Lily is rushed into the first helicopter to escape. Rob, Beth, and Hud are taken away in a second helicopter, witnessing the creature being attacked withMark 82 bombs by aB-2 Spirit. It briefly collapses, but rises from the smoke and strikes the helicopter, causing it to crash into Central Park. The group survives the crash and escapes the wreckage. After placing the camera down to help an injured Rob, Hud turns back to retrieve it when the creature suddenly appears and partially devours him. Rob and Beth grab the camera and take shelter underGreyshot Arch. Asair raid sirens blare, Rob and Beth each provide their last testimony of the day's events.
The arch begins to crumble, and the camera is knocked out of Rob's hand and buried beneath the rubble. Rob and Beth proclaim their love for each other just as the bombing commences, possibly killing them both, while the camera freezes before the footage cuts. The film ends with the finale of Rob and Beth's trip to Coney Island a month earlier. Unseen by them, a barely discernible object falls from the sky and into the ocean.
After the credits, a voice can be heard saying, “Help us.” Whenplayed in reverse, it says “It’s still alive”.
In addition,NY1 TV journalistRoma Torre has a cameo as herself, reporting on a television screen watched by the party-goers. The film's director,Matt Reeves, provides the uncredited voice for the two brief phrases (one normal, one inreversed audio)after the credits.[4]
J. J. Abrams conceived a monster film after he and his son visited a toy store inJapan while promotingMission: Impossible III. He explained, "We saw all theseGodzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own American monster, and not likeKing Kong. I love King Kong. King Kong is adorable. And Godzilla is a charming monster. We love Godzilla, but I wanted something that was just insane and intense."[5][6]
In February 2007,Paramount Pictures secretlygreenlitCloverfield, to be produced by Abrams, directed byMatt Reeves, and written byDrew Goddard. Both Abrams and Reeves have been friends since they were 13 years old[7] and went on to co-create the college drama seriesFelicity forThe WB,[8] while Goddard was a writer forABC'sLost at the time (also co-created by Abrams). The project was produced by Abrams's company,Bad Robot.[3]
The severed head of theStatue of Liberty was inspired by the poster of the 1981 filmEscape from New York, in which the head lies on a street in New York. Reeves explained, "It's an incredibly provocative image. And that was the source that inspired producer J. J. Abrams to say, 'Now this would be an interesting idea for a movie'."[9]
The film was initially titledCloverfield, changed several times throughout production, and was reverted. Matt Reeves explained this was due to the hype caused by the teaser trailer. "That excitement spread to such a degree that we suddenly couldn't use the name anymore. So we started using all these names likeSlusho andCheese.[10] And people always found out what we were doing!" He said that "Cloverfield" was the government's case designation for the events caused by the monster, comparing the titling to that of the realManhattan Project, though the government did not originate this.[11] Cloverfield Blvd is the highway exit Abrams takes to hisSanta Monica office,[10][12] and which used to lead to theSanta Monica Airport, which originally bore the name Clover Field.[13]
The final titleGreyshot was proposed, taken from the archway that the two survivors take shelter under at the end of the movie, but Matt Reeves said this was rejected because the film was already so well known asCloverfield.[14]
The film received a subtitle inJapan, where it was released asCloverfield/Hakaisha (クローバーフィールド/HAKAISHA,Kurōbāfīrudo/HAKAISHA). The subtitle "Destroyer" was chosen by Abrams and was translated into Japanese as Hakaisha (破壊者,lit. "Destroyer") by Paramount Japan at his request.[15] The subtitle Kishin (鬼神,lit. "Fierce God") was chosen for themanga spin-off,Cloverfield/Kishin, released exclusively in Japan.[citation needed]
Casting was done in secret, with no script sent to candidates. To prevent the leaking of plot information, instead of auditioning the actors with scenes from the film, scripts from Abrams's previous productions were used, such as the television seriesAlias andLost. Some scenes were also written specifically for the audition process, not intended for use in the film.Lizzy Caplan stated that she accepted a role inCloverfield without knowing the premise, solely because she was a fan of the Abrams-producedLost, and her experience of discovering its true nature initially caused her to state that she would not sign on for a film in the future "without knowing full well what it is". She indicated that her character was a sarcastic outsider, and that her role was "physically demanding".[16]
With an estimated production budget of $30 million, principal photography began in mid-June 2007 in New York.[3] One cast member said that the film would look like it cost $150 million, though without recognizable and expensive actors.[16] Filmmakers used the PanasonicHVX200 for most of the interior scenes, and the SonyCineAlta F23high-definition video camera to record nearly all of the New York exterior scenes.[17] Filming took place onConey Island, with scenes shot atDeno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park and theB&B Carousell.[18] The scenes of tanks firing at the creature while the main characters hide in a stairwell were filmed on Hennesy Street onWarner Bros. Studios backlot inBurbank, California. Some interior shots were taped on a soundstage atDowney, California.Bloomingdale's in the movie was actually shot in an emptiedRobinsons-May store that was under reconstruction inArcadia, California. The outside scenes ofSephora and the electronics store were taped in DowntownLos Angeles.[19]
The film was shot and edited in acinéma vérité style,[20] to look like it was taped with one hand-held camera, includingjump cuts similar to ones found inhome movies.T. J. Miller, who plays Hud, has said in various interviews that he taped a third of the movie and almost half of it made it into the film.[21] Director Matt Reeves described the presentation, "We wanted this to be as if someone found a Handicam, took out the tape and put it in the player to watch it. What you're watching is a home movie that then turns into something else." Reeves explained that the pedestrians documenting the severed head of the Statue of Liberty with the camera phones was reflective of the contemporary period. According to him: "Cloverfield very much speaks to the fear and anxieties of our time, how we live our lives. Constantly documenting things and putting them up onYouTube, sending people videos through e-mail – we felt it was very applicable to the way people feel now."[22]
VFX andCGI were produced by effects studiosDouble Negative andTippett Studio.[23][24][25]
Several of the filmmakers are heard but not seen in the film. The man yelling "Oh my God!" repeatedly when the head of the Statue of Liberty lands in the street is producerBryan Burk, and director Matt Reeves voiced the whispered radio broadcast at the end of the credits.[14] After viewing a cut of the film,Steven Spielberg suggested giving the audience a hint at the fate of the monster during the climax, which resulted in the addition of a countdown overheard on the helicopter's radio and the sounding ofair raid sirens to signal the forthcoming Hammer Down bombing.[14]
The film'sshaky camera style of cinematography, dubbed "La Shakily Queasy-Cam" byRoger Ebert, caused some viewers (particularly in darkened movie theaters) to experiencemotion sickness, includingnausea and a temporary loss of balance. Audience members prone to migraines have cited the film as a trigger. Some theaters showing the film, such asAMC Theatres, provided poster and verbal warnings, informing viewers about the filming style ofCloverfield, while other theatres likePacific Theatres just verbally warned customers in detail at the box office about experiencing motion sickness upon viewing the film and what to do if they had to step out and vomit.[26]
Visual main effects supervisor Nick Tom andPhil Tippett's "Tippett Studio" were enlisted to develop the visual effects forCloverfield.[27] Because the visual effects were incorporated after filming, cast members were only familiar with early conceptual renderings of the beast and had to react to an unseen creature during their scenes.[28] ArtistNeville Page designed the monster, creating a biological rationale for it, though many of his ideas, including an "elongated, articulated external esophagus", would not show up on screen.[29] His central concept was that of an immature creature suffering from "separation anxiety." This recalls real-life circus elephants who get frightened and lash out. The director stated that "there's nothing scarier than something huge that's spooked."[30]
Before the film's release, Paramount carried out aviral marketing campaign to promote the film which included viral tie-ins similar toLost Experience.[31] Filmmakers decided to create a teaser trailer that would be a surprise in the light of commonplace media saturation. Rather than edit the teaser from footage taken from the finished film, footage was captured during the preparation stages solely for creation of the teaser. Ernest Holzman, who would later be replaced withLost cinematographer Michael Bonvillain, used theThomson Viper FilmStream Camera for the shoot.[32] The teaser was then used as a basis for the film itself. Paramount Pictures encouraged the teaser to be released without a title attached, and theMotion Picture Association of America approved the move.[22] AsTransformers showed high tracking numbers before its release in July 2007, the studio attached the teaser trailer forCloverfield that showed the release date of January 18, 2008, but not the title.[3] A second trailer was released on November 16, 2007, which was attached toBeowulf, confirming the title.[33]
The studio had kept knowledge of the project secret from the online community, a cited rarity due to the presence ofscoopers that follow upcoming films. The controlled release of information on the film has been observed as a risky strategy, which could succeed likeThe Blair Witch Project (1999) or disappoint likeSnakes on a Plane (2006), the latter of which had generated online hype but failed to attract large audiences.[34]
The sudden appearance of the untitled teaser forCloverfield, and limited details available in the lead up to the film's release fueled wide media speculation over the film's plot, with many expecting it to be an adaptation of an existing property. Among the possibilities reported on,The Star Ledger suggested that the film could be based on the works ofH. P. Lovecraft, or a new entry in theGodzilla series.[35]The Guardian reported the possibility of a spin-off to Abrams' television showLost,[36] and a misinterpretation of the trailer's line "It's alive!" as "It's a lion!" ledUSA Today to speculate on a live-action adaptation of Japanese animated seriesVoltron.[30][37]IGN andTime Out suggested that the film would feature an alien called "The Parasite", with that rumored to be the working title of the film.[38][39] Elsewhere online,Slusho andColossus had been discussed as other possible titles,[40] as well asMonstrous,[41] although this was dispelled by Abrams at ComicCon.[6]
The viral marketing campaign drew the attention ofalternate reality game enthusiasts, hoping to uncover information about the film hidden online. Members of the forums at argn.com and unfiction.com have investigated the background of the film, with the "1-18-08" section at Unfiction generating over 7,700 posts in August 2007. The members have studied photographs on the film's official site, potentially relatedMySpace profiles,[42] and the Comic-Con teaser poster for the film.[43] A popular piece offan art posited that the monster was a mutatedhumpback whale.[30]
All of the major characters received a personalMyspace page, all of which are accessible and featuring available photos, though blog posts have been removed.
Unlike most viral marketing campaigns, this one had virtually nothing to do with the film's plot or characters. Instead it focused mainly on the fictional drink Slusho! and the fictional company Tagruato, slowly giving clues of the secret origin of the monster that isn't addressed properly in the film. Following various clues, players discovered that the monster is an ancient amphibious organism discovered during the construction of Chuai Station, an oil platform off the coast ofConnecticut belonging to the Japanese company Tagruato, which has been repurposed for the extraction of a substance called Sea Bed Nectar that would become the secret ingredient of a drink created by its founder Ganu Yoshida,[44][45] named Slusho. Tagurato carries out a coverup involving the ordered assassination of the employee who originally made the discovery,[46] and also uses the platform for surveillance of the monster and its parasites,[47] who are using Sea Bed's nectar as a means of nourishment for their host, applying the substance on its back. Eventually, the monster awakens and destroys the station,[48][49] before finding its way to the shores of New York at the beginning of the film.[50]
Puzzle websites containing Lovecraftian elements, such asEthan Haas Was Right, were originally reported to be connected to the film.[36][51] On July 9, 2007, producerJ. J. Abrams stated that, while a number of websites were being developed to market the film, the only official site that had been found was 1–18–08.com.[52] At the site, which now redirects to theParamount Pictures home page, a collection of time-coded photos were available to piece together a series of events and interpret their meanings. The pictures could also be flipped over by repeatedly and rapidly moving the mouse side to side. Also, if the page was left open for six minutes, the monster's roar could be heard. Eventually, CloverfieldMovie.com was created.[53] The site provided both a trailer and a number, 33287, which, when texted from a mobile phone, provided a ringtone of the monster's roar and a wallpaper of a decimated Manhattan. This eventually turns out to be aParamount number (people later received material onIron Man,Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,Kung Fu Panda, andThe Love Guru).[54]
The drink Slusho! served as part of theviral marketing campaign. The drink had already appeared in producer Abrams' previous creation, the TV seriesAlias.[55] Websites for Slusho! and Taguruato were launched to add to the mythology ofCloverfield. The Japanese phone number in the Tagruato website did work, but only played recorded messages. For example, one of the messages was:"Thank you for calling Tagruato. Due to high call volumes, your call has been transferred to an automated answering service. There are no updates at this time. After the tone, please leave a message, and one of our associates will find you as soon as possible". A building bearing the company logo for Tagruato can also be seen in the TV spot of the 2009Star Trek film, andUhura orders a Slusho! during the bar scene.[31] WhenCloverfield was hosted at Comic-Con 2007, gray Slusho! T-shirts were distributed to attendees.[56] Fans who had registered at the Slusho! website received e-mails of fictionalsonar images before the film's release that showed a deep-sea creature heading toward Manhattan.[57] Fans who ordered merchandise received pieces of torn Tagruato documents and Japanese newspapers along with their products. A cup of Slusho! appears briefly inThe Cloverfield Paradox, and it has also appeared inFringe,Super 8, andHeroes. A Slusho!bobblehead figure also appears shaking inThe Cloverfield Paradox trailer and film.
Producer Burk explained the viral tie-in, "It was all done in conjunction with the studio... The whole experience in making this movie is very reminiscent of how we didLost."[31] Director Reeves described Slusho! as "part of the involved connectivity" with Abrams'Alias and that the drink represented a "meta-story" forCloverfield. The director explained, "It's almost like tentacles that grow out of the film and lead, also, to the ideas in the film. And there's this weird way where you can go see the movie and it's one experience... But there's also this other place where you can get engaged where there's this other sort of aspect for all those people who are into that. All the stories kind of bounce off one another and inform each other. But, at the end of the day, this movie stands on its own to be a movie.... The Internet sort of stories and connections and clues are, in a way, a prism and they're another way of looking at the same thing. To us, it's just another exciting aspect of the storytelling."[55]
A four-installmentprequelmanga series by Yoshiki Togawa titledCloverfield/Kishin (クローバーフィールド/KISHIN,Kurōbāfīrudo/KISHIN) was released by Japanese publisherKadokawa Shoten.[58] The story focuses on a Japanese high school student named Kishin Aiba, who somehow bears a connection to the monster.[59]
Based on the film's successful opening weekend,Hasbro began accepting orders for a 14-inch (36 cm) collectible toy figure of the monster with authentic sound[60] and its parasites that were shipped to fans by December 24, 2008.[61]
| Rob's Party Mix | |
|---|---|
| Compilation album by various artists | |
| Released | January 17, 2008 |
| Length | 64:02 |
Due to its presentation as footage from a consumer digital recorder,Cloverfield has nofilm score, with the exception of the composition "Roar! (Cloverfield Overture)" byMichael Giacchino that plays over the end credits. Similarities between "Roar!" and the music ofGodzilla composerAkira Ifukube have been noted, and it has been suggested that Giacchino's overture is a tribute to Ifukube's work,[62][63] which was confirmed byMatt Reeves in the DVD's commentary track.[14] The soundtrack was supervised by William Files[citation needed] and Douglas Murray atSkywalker Sound.[64]
Rob's Party Mix orCloverfield Mix is a collection of the music played in the opening party sequences of the film that was released exclusively on Apple'siTunes Store on January 22, 2008, in lieu of a traditional soundtrack album. TheCloverfield score, "Roar! (Cloverfield Overture)" by Michael Giacchino that plays over the end credits[65] is not featured on the album, as it is themixtape played at the party and is not the official soundtrack of the film. This album was distributed to guests at aCloverfield premiere party held at the Dark Room inNew York City on January 17, 2008.[66]
A complete soundtrack release of all the music in the film, including Giacchino's "Roar!" end title piece, has now also been released exclusively on iTunes; it has not been officially released in retail stores. A CD entitledRob's Party Mix comes packaged in a special edition ofCloverfield made available for sale in CanadianWal-Mart stores beginning on April 22, 2008.[citation needed]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "West Coast" | Coconut Records | 3:32 |
| 2. | "Taper Jean Girl" | Kings of Leon | 3:05 |
| 3. | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 4:01 |
| 4. | "Do I Have Your Attention" | The Blood Arm | 3:35 |
| 5. | "Got Your Moments" | Scissors for Lefty | 3:11 |
| 6. | "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" | Parliament | 5:46 |
| 7. | "19-2000" | Gorillaz | 3:27 |
| 8. | "The Underdog" | Spoon | 3:42 |
| 9. | "Pistol of Fire" | Kings of Leon | 2:20 |
| 10. | "Disco Lies" | Moby | 3:22 |
| 11. | "Do the Whirlwind" | Architecture in Helsinki | 4:39 |
| 12. | "Grown So Ugly" | The Black Keys | 2:24 |
| 13. | "Four Winds" | Bright Eyes | 2:09 |
| 14. | "The Ride" | Joan As Policewoman | 3:09 |
| 15. | "Seventeen Years" | Ratatat | 4:26 |
| 16. | "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" | Of Montreal | 4:15 |
| 17. | "Fuzz" (ファズ) | Mucc | 4:47 |
First publicized in a teaser trailer in screenings ofTransformers, the film was released on January 17, 2008, inNew Zealand,Russia andAustralia; January 18 in North America; January 24 inSouth Korea; January 25 inTaiwan; January 31 in Germany; and February 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. In Japan, the film was released on April 5.
TheDVD was released on April 22, 2008, in two versions: the standard single-disc edition and an exclusive "steel-book" special edition that was sold atSuncoast andFYE retailers in the US andFuture Shop in Canada. Other store exclusives include an exclusive bonus disc titled "T. J. Miller's Video Diary" with the DVD at allBest Buy retailers, an exclusive mix CD titled "Rob's Goin' to Japan Party Mix" with the DVD at allTarget andWal-Mart retailers and an exclusiveringtone with the DVD at allKmart andSears retailers.Borders also had an exclusive booklet encased with their DVD.
TheRegion 2 DVD was released on June 9 in both one-disc and two-disc editions. The limited steel-book edition is only available fromHMV, whilePlay.com offers exclusive cover artwork. The HMV-exclusive steel-book contains two discs.
The DVD includes twoalternative endings, which vary only slightly. The first alternative ending shows Rob and Beth exiting theConey Island–Stillwell Avenue station instead of on the Ferris wheel and features different sirens in the background as Rob talks to the camera. In the second alternative ending, just after the final explosion, Beth can be heard screaming "Rob!" followed by a brief clip of an unknown person looking at the camera (in the commentary, Reeves stated that it was one of the crew members) and brushing rubble off the lens. The film then ends with the original final clip of Rob and Beth on theirConey Island date recording themselves on the Ferris Wheel as the camera tape runs out, with two differences: there is notimestamp in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, and there is an additional beeping tone indicating the end of the tape.[67]
ABlu-ray edition was released on June 3, 2008.[68] It includes a "Special Investigation Mode", as well as all the bonus features of the 2-disc DVD in HD.
On the film's 10th anniversary, Paramount issued a 4kUHD Blu-ray version of the film, accompanied by the standard Blu-ray and bonus extras. It was released on January 23, 2018.[69]
Cloverfield opened in 3,411 theaters on January 18, 2008, and grossed a total of $16,930,000 on its opening day in the United States and Canada. It made $40.1 million on its opening weekend, which at the time was the most successfulJanuary release (record then taken byRide Along in 2014 with a weekend gross of $41.5 million).[70] Moreover, the film simultaneously beatTitanic andBlack Hawk Down to have the biggest Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend and opening weekend grosses.[71] Worldwide, it has grossed $170,602,318, making it the first movie in 2008 to gross over $100 million.[2] In Japan, the film held the top spot in the box office rankings for one week before the release ofKamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka took the top spot in its first weekend.[72]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 213 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A sort ofBlair Witch Project crossed withGodzilla,Cloverfield is economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares".[73] According toMetacritic, the film has received anaverage score of 64 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[74] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[75]
Marc Savlov ofThe Austin Chronicle called the film "the most intense and original creature feature I've seen in my adult moviegoing life [...] a pure-blood, grade A, exhilarating monster movie". He citesMatt Reeves' direction, the "whip-smart, stylistically invisible" script and the "nearlysubconscious evocation of our current paranoid,terror-phobic times" as the keys to the film's success, saying that telling the story through the lens of one character's camera "works fantastically well".[76] Michael Rechtshaffen ofThe Hollywood Reporter called it "chillingly effective", generally praising the effects and the film's "claustrophobic intensity". He said that though the characters "aren't particularly interesting or developed", there was "something refreshing about a monster movie that isn't filled with the usual suspects".[77] Lisa Schwarzbaum ofEntertainment Weekly said that the film was "surreptitiously subversive, [a] stylistically clever little gem", and that while the characters were "vapid, twenty-something nincompoops" and the acting "appropriately unmemorable", the decision to tell the story through amateur footage was "brilliant".[78]Roger Ebert in theChicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that it is "pretty scary at times" and cites "unmistakable evocations of9/11". He concludes that "all in all, it is an effective film, deploying its special effects well and never breaking the illusion that it is all happening as we see it".[79]
Todd McCarthy ofVariety called the film an "old-fashioned monster movie dressed up in trendy new threads", praising the special effects, "nihilistic attitude" and "post-9/11 anxiety overlay." but said, "In the end, [it's] not much different from all the marauding creature features that have come before it".[80] Scott Foundas ofLA Weekly was critical of the film's use of scenes reminiscent of theSeptember 11 attacks inNew York City and called it "cheap and opportunistic". He suggested that the film was engaging in "stealth" attempts at social commentary and compared this unfavorably to the films ofDon Siegel,George A. Romero andSteven Spielberg, saying, "Where those filmmakers all had something meaningful to say about the state of the world and [...] human nature, Abrams doesn't have much to say about anything".[81] Manohla Dargis in theNew York Times called the allusions "tacky", saying, "[The images] may make you think of the attack, and you may curse the filmmakers for their vulgarity, insensitivity or lack of imagination", but that "the film is too dumb to offend anything except your intelligence". She concludes that the film "works as a showcase for impressively realistic-looking special effects, a realism that fails to extend to the scurrying humans whosefates are meant to invoke pity and fear but instead inspire yawns and contempt".[20]Stephanie Zacharek ofSalon.com calls the film "badly constructed, humorless and emotionally sadistic", and sums up by saying that the film "takes thetrauma of 9/11 and turns it into just another random spectacle at which to point and shoot".[82] Michael Phillips of theChicago Tribune warned that the viewer may feel "queasy" at the references to September 11, but that "other sequences [...] carry a real jolt" and that such tactics were "crude, but undeniably gripping." He called the film "dumb", but "quick and dirty and effectively brusque", concluding that despite it being "a harsher, more demographically calculating brand of fun", he enjoyed the film.[65] Bruce Paterson ofCinephilia described the film as "a successful experiment in style but not necessarily a successful story for those who want dramatic closure". Some critics also pointed out the similarity to theHalf-Life video game series, in particular the "Ant-lion" monsters fromHalf-Life 2, and the constant first-person perspective.[83]
Empire magazine named it the fifth best film of 2008.[84] The French film journalCahiers du Cinéma named the film as the third best of 2008.[85]Bloody Disgusting ranked the film number twenty in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", with the article calling the film "A brilliant conceit, to be sure, backed by a genius early marketing campaign that followed the less-is-more philosophy to tantalizing effect...much likeBlair Witch nearly ten years earlier,Cloverfield helped prove, particularly in its first half hour, that what you don't see can be the scariest thing of all".[86] In 2022, Aedan Juvet ofScreen Rant revisited the original film, labeling it as an "influential" found footage, sci-fi hybrid.[87]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Saturn Awards | Best Science Fiction Film | Cloverfield | Won | [88] |
| Best Supporting Actress | Lizzy Caplan | Nominated | |||
| Golden Schmoes Awards | Best Horror Movie of the Year | Cloverfield | Won | [89] | |
| Most Underrated Movie of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Trippiest Movie of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Best Sci-Fi Movie of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Best Special Effects of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Favorite Movie Poster of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Best Trailer of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Golden Trailer Awards | Best Thriller | Cloverfield | Nominated | [90] | |
| Most Original | Nominated | ||||
| Internet Film Critics Society Awards | Most Experimental Film | Cloverfield | Won | [91] | |
| Italian Online Movie Awards | Best Special Effects | Cloverfield | Nominated | [92] | |
| Scream Awards | Best Science Fiction Movie | Cloverfield | Nominated | [93] | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller | Cloverfield | Nominated | [94] | |
| Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller Actor | Michael Stahl-David | Nominated | |||
| Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller Actress | Odette Yustman | Nominated | |||
| 2009 | ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Top Box Office Films | Michael Giacchino | Won | [95] |
| International Film Music Critics Awards | Film Music Composition of the Year | Michael Giacchino | Nominated | [96] | |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Wide Release Film | Cloverfield | Nominated | [97] | |
| Worst Film | Nominated | ||||
| Best Score | Michael Giacchino | Won | |||
| Gold Derby Awards | Visual Effects | Kevin Blank, Mike Ellis and Eric Leven | Nominated | [98] | |
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing - Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film | Douglas Murray, Will Files, Cheryl Nardi, Sue Fox and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle | Nominated | [99] | |
| Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film | Will Files, Douglas Murray, Luke Dunn Gielmuda, Robert Shoup, Josh Gold, Andrea Gard, Steve Bissinger, Kim Foscato, Samuel H. Hinckley, Andy Malcolm and Goro Koyama | Nominated | |||
| International Online Cinema Awards | Best Visual Effects | Cloverfield | Nominated | [100] | |
| Best Sound Mixing | Anna Behlmer, Will Files and Ed White | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound Editing | Douglas Murray and Will Files | Nominated | |||
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture | Cloverfield | Nominated | [101] | |
| Best Single Visual Effect of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture | Nominated |
At theCloverfield premiere, director Matt Reeves talked about possibilities of what a sequel would look like if the film succeeded.[102] According to Reeves:
While we were on set making the film we talked about the possibilities and directions of how a sequel can go. The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie! In today's day and age of people filming their lives on their camera phones andHandycams, uploading it toYouTube... That was kind of exciting thinking about that.[103]
In another interview, Reeves stated:
There's a moment on the Brooklyn Bridge, and there was a guy filming something on the side of the bridge, and Hud sees him filming and he turns over and he sees the ship that's been capsized and sees the headless Statue of Liberty, and then he turns back and this guy's briefly filming him. In my mind that was two movies intersecting for a brief moment, and I thought there was something interesting in the idea that this incident happened and there are so many different points of view, and there are several different movies at least happening that evening and we just saw one piece of another.[30]
Reeves also pointed out that the final scene on Coney Island shows something falling into the ocean in the background without an explanation. This may have been either the satellite owned by the fictional Japanese media company, Tagruato, or the creature itself. A company news piece on the Tagruato website mentions that a piece of the Japanese Government's ChimpanzII satellite fell off into the Atlantic. Producers Bryan Burk and J. J. Abrams also revealed their thoughts on possible sequels toEntertainment Weekly. According to Burk, "The creative team has fleshed out an entire backstory which, if we're lucky, we might get to explore in future films". Abrams stated that he did not want to rush into the development of the sequel merely because the first film was a success; he explained that he would rather create a sequel that is true to the previous film.[104]
At the end of January 2008, Reeves entered early talks with Paramount to direct a sequel, which was planned to be filmed before Reeves's other project,The Invisible Woman.[105] Reeves said:
The idea of doing something so differently is exhilarating. We hope that it created a movie experience that is different. The thing about doing a sequel is that I think we all really feel protective of that experience. The key here will be if we can find something that is compelling enough and that is different enough for us to do, then it will probably be worth doing. Obviously it also depends on howCloverfield does worldwide and all of those things too, but really, for us creatively, we just want to find something that would be another challenge.[106]
In September 2008, when asked byCraveOnline what the status was onCloverfield 2,[107] Abrams stated that at that point they were still discussing it; however, he still felt reluctant to work on a sequel. In the same interview, Abrams said that they were working on something that "could be kind of cool." When asked if it would take place in a different location, Abrams replied by saying that "it would be a totally different kind of thing but it's too early to talk about."[108] In a 2010 interview withAttack of the Show!, Abrams stated that they might abandon the filming style, stating that he and the rest of the crew would like to try something new.[109]
The filmSuper 8 was initially speculated to be either a sequel or prequel toCloverfield,[110] but this was quickly denied by Abrams.[111]
In January 2011, horror film fan site BloodyDisgusting.com stated that aCloverfield sequel may never happen. They talked to director Reeves and he said that if he can ever get the time to sit down and talk with Drew Goddard and J. J. Abrams about sequel possibilities they will certainly make a sequel, but due to all three's busy schedules Reeves did not see this happening any time soon.[112] In a 2011 interview, Matt Reeves gave an update on the status ofCloverfield 2, saying:
Getting the right idea together has been taking a long time. ... You are going to see it – we just don't know when [laughs] ... At the moment we are talking about the story quite a lot. Drew Goddard, who wrote the original, is going to pen the sequel and J. J. Abrams is very much involved. ... However, the three of us have been so busy that getting the right idea together has been taking a long time.
When asked if the sequel would be shot in real time, Reeves stated, "You see, that's a difficult part: we want it to be shot like the first but how can you continue that idea successfully for a second time? ... We have a lot of affection for the original and the sequel can't just be the same thing. But that is tricky when you need to have a monster destroying stuff once again."[113]
In a 2012 interview, screenwriter Goddard gave an update saying, "I'm in, I'm ready to do it...someone call J. J. and tell him to get moving, but because Matt and J. J. and I have been fortunate enough to be busy, it's hard syncing our schedules up. We're all very passionate about returning to that world." When asked if an idea was on paper, he responded, "If you asked each of us what we wanted to do, you'll get three different answers, which is how the first film was. The aesthetic ofCloverfield benefits from that. Three voices pulling it. Look, nothing would make me happier than to get the three of us in the room to get started."[114] In a later interview in April of that same year, Goddard said:
We didn't set out to make a franchise, we set out to make a good movie. But I love that world and that universe, so if there was an idea that excited us enough, and we felt like there was a reason to do it, we would do it. The nice thing about when you work with a guy like J. J., and the power he gets, the studio's not going to force him to do anything. And he has been able to say, we'll do it when we're ready. We're not going to just do it because it will help your bottom line, we're going to do it because there's an idea that excites us. And so that's informed our discussions. We don't feel like we have to, so it's like 'Can we come up with something that excites us enough to do it?'[115]
On January 14, 2016,10 Cloverfield Lane was revealed by Bad Robot, with Abrams as a producer and Reeves and Goddard credited asexecutive producers.[116] The film was described as "a blood relative" but not "a literal sequel" toCloverfield by Abrams, who produced the film.[117] The film was released on March 11, 2016, marking the theatrical feature film directorial debut ofDan Trachtenberg.[118]
During an interview with Abrams to promote10 Cloverfield Lane, he said the creative team behind the original had some ideas on developingCloverfield 2, but the release of movies such asGodzilla andPacific Rim led them to abandon them as they found the concept ofkaiju movies had played out. However, Abrams also suggested that he had thought of something that if they are lucky enough to get it made "could be really cool that [it] connects some stories" in a future film, teasing a largerCloverfield universe.[117][119] Interviews with Dan Trachtenberg andMary Elizabeth Winstead, director and actress of10 Cloverfield Lane, respectively, confirmed that the movie is and always was intended to be an expansion of the first film, with Trachtenberg calling it the "Cloververse".[120]
In October 2016, it was reported that an Abrams-produced project, tentatively titledGod Particle, would be the next film set in theCloverfield universe.[121] The sequel was originally announced as a February 2017 release but the release date was pushed back to the following year, with theGod Particle title having been dropped and the film now being referred to asUntitled Cloverfield Sequel. It has also been suggested that the original plot device of agod particle may have been completely removed from the script.[122] On February 4, 2018, duringSuper Bowl LII, a TV commercial aired announcing the film would be entitledThe Cloverfield Paradox and would have a surprise release onNetflix after the game.
In an April 2018 conference at CinemaCon, Abrams stated that "we're actually developing a true, dedicatedCloverfield sequel."[123] He also said that the sequel would be released theatrically, a departure from the previous installment,The Cloverfield Paradox, which was only released on Netflix.[124] Abrams went on to say that theCloverfield sequel is coming "very soon."[125]
In January 2021, it was announced thatJoe Barton was selected to write the script for a newCloverfield film, a direct sequel to the 2008 film, produced by Abrams.[126] In September 2022,Babak Anvari was attached to direct the film.[127] In March 2025, Anvari revealed that the sequel is still in development.[128]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)But its quite-poor CinemaScore grade of C (from an audience that was mostly young and male, naturally) is troubling
There's a good chance the sequel will be Reeves' next film, in which case he will direct 'The Invisible Woman' afterward. 'Woman' is aHitchcock-style thriller
Quotations related toCloverfield at Wikiquote
Media related toCloverfield at Wikimedia Commons
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