[Update] – Check out more of our Cloverfield Coverage!
Okay, Garbled Zombie posted two articles about this movie a few weeks ago but much of the article is littered with information that has since been proven false. EthanHaasWasRight is not related to Cloverfield, this has been confirmed by producer J.J. Abrams, in fact it seems to viral marketing for a game called Alpha-Omega. So, while EHWR is not for Cloverfield there are viral Marketing sites out there. One of those all-but-confirmed sites is Slusho, but there is evidence backing up this claim. A scene in the trailer shows a character wearing a shirt with the slusho logo and name on it.
Now, not only is that in the movie, but the company has been tied directly to past Abrams works. The name Slusho was in an episode of Alias, which was produced by Abrams himself, as an Icee type company. The site itself has been stated as a marketing site for Cloverfield by an inside source according to NBC, but not by Paramount of Abrams. The site is strange to say the least. The product’s history is riddled with more than it’s share of Engrish translations and shows a very mysterious past about the company’s creator and his family. The likelihood of the site being fake is slim, but still possible.
Now since the last few posts another picture has come up. It doesn’t provide much, if any, information, but it’s definitely after the “attack” by the parasite. The smoke could be anything, an expulsion of gas from the parasite or just smoke from the falling debris of the surrounding buildings. Something that has been pointed out in the the last picture though, a girl in the lower right hand corner of the party has a photoshopped number on her, the number 9. The significance of this has yet to be seen.
On to more factual items, some items have been confirmed. The director is Matt Reeves, who has worked with J.J. Abrams in the past with Felicity. The Writer is Drew Goddard, ex Mutant Enemy(Joss Whedon’s production company) writer. He too has worked with Abrams in the past as a co-executive producer and writer of Lost. So the director I can’t say I know much about, but the writer I’m interested in. I’m a huge fan of both the Angel and Buffy TV series, and the last season for both series were some of the best. He’s got a great writing background so we just might be in for some luck. The movie is listed as being in production in New York, so if it’ll be filmed on the streets or mainly on sound lots is not known, but anyone who lives in New York should keep their eyes open around 401 Broadway. A sign for the street was seen in the trailer and some of the filming could take place near or around there. Another piece of information for people just wanting to get in on the action is to look for anything Slusho or Cloverfield in major cities, particularly in the Los Angeles area. It’s very possible that it might point to an area where the movie is being filmed.That NBC article I mentioned earlier gives some insight on what you might be looking for if you’re into the research scene. One of the hints the article points out is the line from the trailer “I saw it! It’s alive! It’s huge!” Now this has been heard as “It’s a Lion! It’s huge!” supporting a Voltron claim, but that doesn’t seem to be true. As to what the actual quote hints at I can only guess, but the article shows what it can’t be. It’s not a remake or a sequel, so no Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, or any pre-existing giant monster. It also says that it’s not related to Lost, so the smoke in the movie has nothing to do with the smoke in the show. The article also brings up that the sound is a hint, that it’s very organic, so it’s not a robot of some sort(again debasing the Voltron claim). While not a piece about the movie’s plot itself, but interesting nonetheless, is that nearly half of the 30 million dollar budget is for the movie’s special effects.
A last piece of info that might not be useful to the search is an article made by the New York Post. The article features an interview with the owner of the Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park on Coney Island. It says that they played some ticket stub games, took rides on the ferris wheel and rode the bumper cars. Nothing big there, but the owner goes on to say that “It’s about an alien that wipes out all of New York City,” and “The footage is taken the day before everyone dies. A bunch of kids come to Coney Island with a video camera. The movie is a flashback to that day.” This is significant because, from an article I’ve read(I’ll try to find it later and add it in here) the movie is all a flashback. After the disaster a crew of people come to search the wreckage that is New York city. They find a handheld camera and press play, that’s where the movie begins.
So, a lot of exciting information, but the question still is this, what is “The parasite”? It could be a lot of things, and even lesser things. It could be the wrath of God, it could be a giant teddy bear, it could be the Elder god Cthulhu, but we won’t really know for a while(I’m hoping for Cthulhu). We might hear something about the movie next week when J.J. Abrams takes the stage at Comicon during a Paramount studios panel, or we might hear nothing. Just keep your eyes and ears open.
A few useful links:
The official trailer in beautiful HD
The official Cloverfield site
The Cloverfield fan-journal
Slusho, the viral marketing site