Original Cloverfield director Matt Reeves comments on whether he would be open to returning to the monster franchise. Released in 2008, Cloverfield tells the story of a group of friends attempting to survive an attack from a gigantic alien monster in New York City. The film was a hit and, although a true sequel has yet to come to fruition, several anthology spinoffs have followed in the years since its release. 10 Cloverfield Lane, a film that smartly uses a monster movie premise to tell a more contained story, hit theaters in 2016, and The Cloverfield Paradox, a divisive space-set extension of the universe, was released on Netflix in 2018.
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Reeves addresses whether, 15 years later, he would be interested in directing another Cloverfield movie.
Reeves continues to serve as an executive producer on the franchise with J.J. Abrams and expresses that, while he’s not attached to direct any future installments, that could potentially change if the right idea comes forward. Check out Reeves’ full comment below regarding his Cloverfield return:
“I have no idea. I’m super excited about us doing more, and I can’t give you information about that of course because that’s the way Cloverfield works. To be honest with you, you never know what you’re going to do. Even though my work is all genre work, I have to feel something personal about it. Cloverfield is very much about my anxieties.
“That was the process that drew me in, that’s what taught me how to shoot it, how to talk to the actors about what it was, because it was like trying to ground it from that perspective and make something crazy, fantastical, and genre, also feel real…I think if another story were to present itself where I was like, ‘Gosh I have to tell that story.’ It’s not impossible. I wouldn’t say that’s a for sure thing, but I would never say never.”
Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield Return Won’t Happen Anytime Soon
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Even though he may not be against returning to the Cloverfield franchise for the right story, Reeves is so busy with other projects that it’s unlikely he’ll be coming back in the near future. After directing two of the new Planet of the Apes movies, which were both critical and commercial successes, Reeves entered the superhero genre with last year’s The Batman. The film, which stars Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, was a big hit for DC and Reeves is currently hard at work writing a sequel. With the writing process currently underway and Reeves also expected to direct The Batman 2, the filmmaker’s slate is already looking pretty full for the next couple of years.
The Batman was such a success, in fact, that several spinoff shows also got the green light, with Reeves serving as a producer. A spinoff focusing on Colin Farrell’s Penguin is currently in the works at HBO Max, in addition to potentially a few others. Plus, if The Batman 2 ends up being an even bigger hit than the first movie, it’s possible that Reeves could then set to work on a third film as well, further delaying his return to the Cloverfield franchise. That’s not to mention other projects he may be interested in pursuing outside of these two established franchises.
Where The Cloverfield Franchise Should Go Next
Another Cloverfield sequel is currently in the works with Babak Anvari attached to direct, but it’s currently unknown whether the project will be a direct sequel to the original or another anthology story. Considering all the main characters seemingly die in the original movie, any direct sequel could continue to follow the devastation in New York City but with an entirely new cast. However, 10 Cloverfield Lane introduces a compelling new hero in the form of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the ending to the film already sets up further adventures for her character, suggesting she could be someone worth further exploring in a new Cloverfield movie.
Source: ComicBook.com