Cloverfield Sequel Announced, Monsterland Director Recruited
A new Cloverfield sequel is officially on the way from director Babak Anvari.
While it’s been a little bit over two years since we first reported the possibility, today it was confirmed that a Cloverfield sequel is officially in the works. In what’s been a year for successful sequels, especially when it comes to the film’s home studio of Paramount, Deadline revealed that the 2008 Matt Reeves-helmed film will finally have its follow-up. While Reeves isn’t attached to direct this time around, Hulu’s Monsterland director and executive producer, Babak Anvari, has been tapped in his place.
A found footage disaster film, Cloverfield took audiences on a journey not for the faint of heart – or for those who may suffer from vertigo or motion sickness. The feature told the first-hand account of a group of New Yorkers who are forced to escape their borough when a menacing giant creature and several smaller creatures lay waste to the city. A massive hit for audiences and fans of monster, sci-fi, and horror flicks, it’s no shock as to why Cloverfield is finally getting a sequel.
While the upcoming Anvari-helmed feature is officially being marketed as a Cloverfield sequel, it won’t be the first time these stories from the same universe have been told. Back in 2016, fans were taken on a new spooky sci-fi journey via Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane with Julius Onah following that one up with Netflix’s The Cloverfield Paradox in 2018. Although it will be a fresh tale in the world of Cloverfield, the newly announced project will also be produced by J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot who has also backed the other three productions.
Although he won’t be the directorial eye behind the Cloverfield sequel, Matt Reeves has signed on to executive produce alongside familiar franchise names Drew Goddard and Bryan Burk. Hannah Minghella and Jon Cohen will also produce. Joe Barton (The Lazarus Project) will pen the script.
As fans of the Cloverfield franchise know, it’s a shock that those backing the film are announcing the sequel in this way. One of the most genius marketing campaigns in film history, the franchise is known for not making the big reveal until trailers are dropped, shocking audiences every time. Both 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox were announced with different titles, leaving viewers unaware of what they were stepping into until their respective teasers dropped on a national scale.
One thing production is holding close to their chests is the plot for the Cloverfield sequel. It’s unclear as to where it will take place in the franchise and if it will feature the same characters from the first or subsequent films, or if it will continue down the alley of an anthology.
We do know that with Anvari as the film’s leader, we can expect to have our minds blown all over again. As well as the aforementioned Hulu series, Monsterland, Anvari has been thrilling and chilling audiences with a slew of spooky projects including Under the Shadow and Wounds. With his genius for creating a mind-rattling horror flick, it’s no shock as to why he’s the perfect man for the job of directing the Cloverfield sequel.
It’s also no shock as to why Paramount is moving forward with the project. This year alone, the studio has had massive success resurrecting fan-favorite films from Top Gun: Maverick to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, making an even better case for a Cloverfield sequel to begin production.
