Potential Cloverfield 2 plot details have been teased by its producer. The upcoming film is technically the fourth in the overall franchise, as the original – which was a 2008 found footage film about a giant monster emerging from the sea to attack New York City – was followed by the largely unrelated paranoid bunker thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 and the twisted sci-fi adventure The Cloverfield Paradox, which premiered on Netflix in a surprise release following the Super Bowl in 2018. A new film in the series is currently being developed by Paramount with Under the Shadow director Babak Anvari at the helm.
Recently, SyFy sat down with original Cloverfield director Matt Reeves on the 15th anniversary of the film. While he has been militant about keeping potential spoilers at bay for the upcoming film, he teased that one potential route they could go is a viral horror film inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. Reeves reflected that he has always made films that reflect his anxieties and the idea that the pandemic features “the uncertainty of what you can’t see and the idea that being next to someone, you could catch something” could be a very scary vein for the sequel film to follow. Read his full quote below:
There’s no question it would be a viral movie, right? It would be about a virus. The funny thing about making that movie, like I said, for me, it opened up the idea of making genre movies and specifically about exploring your own feelings about things. I had such anxiety that was related to… I mean, I still have such anxiety. I think I wouldn’t be a filmmaker if I didn’t have anxiety.
Every movie that I’ve made is some sort of depiction of my internal anxiety. I think today, it would absolutely come from the uncertainty of what you can’t see and the idea that being next to someone, you could catch something. There have been some really scary [viral thrillers]. Contagion is certainly really scary … There would be a scary [Cloverfield] movie to do for sure about the spread of the virus.
Everything We Know About Cloverfield 2
So far, no plot details for Cloverfield 2 have been officially confirmed by anyone involved in the production. In spite of that, this new quote from Reeves would seem to indicate that they are willing to take this new film in another unusual direction, mimicking the almost anthology-like status of the previous sequels. However the Cloverfield films have been known for their tricky and complex ad campaigns (inspired by producer J.J. Abrams’ promotion of his hit series Lost), so this quote could eventually prove to be one more piece in a puzzle meant to mislead fans.
In fact, both in front of and behind the camera not much has been confirmed about the upcoming Cloverfield sequel. However, it is known that Paramount will once again be teaming with Abrams’ company Bad Robot for the production. The writer attached to the film’s screenplay is Joe Barton, a prolific TV writer whose recent projects have included the supernatural Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself and the time loop thriller The Lazarus Project, both of which he also created.
Anvari, whose most recent work – the Hugh Bonneville thriller I Came By – was also on Netflix, was attached to the project in September 2022. However, there has not been any visible movement on Cloverfield 2 since then. This new quote from Reeves – who most recently helmed the hit DC film The Batman – would seem to indicate that the film is still in the early stages of development, so it may be quite some time before updates are released.
Source: SyFy