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| Producer Talks Cloverfield Bryan Burk, producer of the mysterious monster movie Cloverfield, told SCI FI Wire that the filmmakers' intention was to make America's answer to Japan's Godzilla and that the movie was inspired by other films. "It's an entirely original story and monster," Burk, a producing partner with Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams, said in an interview in November. "There's no tie-in to any of our other projects quite yet. We're obviously fans of the great monster movies. I remember when we were starting Lost, and we had references in it to all our favorite things, be it Jaws or Alien, and this feels like this is the same thing. I don't think it feels like any other movie you have seen before, but we were definitely inspired by a lot of our favorite films." Burk said that Abrams, who is also producing the movie, was inspired by Japan's original fire-breathing monster. "The origins were from when J.J. was doing the press tour for Mission: Impossible III in Japan," Burk said. "It was two years ago, and he was with his son, Henry, and like father, like son, they were at a lot of the toy stores, and they were admiring the Godzilla stuff. J.J. was thinking that America didn't have their Godzilla, so to speak. We have King Kong, but it's a completely different beast, no pun intended, from Godzilla. It started him thinking." Burk also addressed the rampant rumors about the top-secret project, which began with a cryptic teaser trailer for an untitled movie that appeared without warning alongside last July's Transformers. Since then, the Internet has been ablaze with fan-based Web sites that speculate about the movie's story based partly on clues from official viral-marketing sites such as one for a Japanese drilling company and another for a soft drink called Slusho. "The viral stuff online was all done in conjunction with the studio," Burk said. "A woman named Amy Powell at Paramount is in charge. She's [a] genius, to say the least. The whole experience in making this movie is very reminiscent with how we did Lost. Everyone jumped on board and said, 'We see what this is. Let's do it!' Once the studio said, 'OK, we are going to keep this top secret, and nothing is going to get out,' then it went on to my fellow producers, the cast and the entire crew. Everybody was part of the team feeling like they were making something special." Cloverfield opens on Jan. 18, 2008 |
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| Cloverfield became the first monster hit released in 2008, debuting with $41 million during the Jan. 18 weekend, a record opening for the month, the Associated Press reported. The film, from producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves, surpassed the $35.9 million premiere weekend of the Star Wars special edition in 1997, the previous best for January. Cloverfield is already making money for Paramount, as it reportedly cost $25 million to make. |
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| Matt Reeves is in early talks with Paramount to direct a sequel to his recent monster movie Cloverfield, Variety reported. If the studio can complete discussions with Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and scribe Drew Goddard, there is a chance that the Cloverfield sequel will be his next film. Cloverfield, which tells the story of a monster attack on New York City through hand-held video footage, broke the box-office record for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend when it opened on Jan. 18 with $46 million in ticket sales. It fell sharply the following weekend, but not significantly enough to deter the studio from moving forward with a deal for a follow-up film. A likely factor was the film's modest $25 million budget, which it made back in its first two days of release. |
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| Cloverfield crashes into UK chart New York monster movie Cloverfield has topped the UK and Ireland film box office on its opening weekend. The film, which stars previously unknown actors, follows a group of young New Yorkers on the night a giant monster attacks the city. It took £3.5m in ticket sales, beating musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber - which took £1.7m over the weekend - into second place. Eva Longoria comedy Over Her Dead Body was third on its opening weekend. UK AND IRELAND BOX OFFICE 1. Cloverfield - £3.49m 2. Sweeney Todd - £1.71m 3. Over Her Dead Body - £996,000 4. Penelope - £770,000 5. No Country For Old Men - £712,000 Source: Screen International The Desperate Housewives star's character dies on the day of her wedding before coming back to haunt his fiance's new girlfriend. Modern romantic fairytale Penelope, starring Christina Ricci and also on its opening weekend - was fourth. The Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men was fifth. Former top film I Am Legend, starring Will Smith - which has taken £25.3m in the UK - dropped out of the top 10 for the first time. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| Cloverfield Has Many Versions Cloverfield, the J.J. Abrams-produced monster movie, drops on DVD on April 22 in several special editions, depending on which retailer sells it. At Suncoast and FYE stores, the movie will appear in limited-edition steel-book collectible packaging. The Best Buy version will include a bonus disc entitled "TJ Miller's Video Diary," containing almost 30 minutes of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage with "Hud," one of the film's characters. Kmart and Sears customers will get a free Cloverfield ringtone. Those who buy the disc at Target will get a deluxe edition, with a "Rob's Goin' to Japan Party Mix" music CD. |
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| ^^ Fortunately, an easy decision for me. I won't be buying any of them. Probably the most disappointing movie of the year IMO. If they could release a version with a decent ending, that would be greatly appreciated. :rolleyes: |
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| Cloverfield DVD Reveals Details Michael Stahl-David, who starred in J.J. Abrams' monster movie Cloverfield, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming DVD release will give viewers a chance to catch some of the details they might have missed in the theatrical version. "The momentum of it and the excitement of it will still be there," Stahl-David said in an interview. "But I also think it's a chance to enjoy some of the nuanced stuff and go back and see more of the world and the stuff that's hidden in it." Stahl-David said that one of the things viewers can look out for this time is a brief clue in the background of the final scene in the movie, which flashes back to a date between his character, Rob, and his love interest, Beth, played by Odette Yustman. While the two are on the Ferris wheel at Coney Island, an object can be seen falling from the sky into the ocean. Although this object may play a part in the mythology of the monster that later terrorizes Manhattan, many audience members missed it the first time around, including Stahl-David. "They didn't even tell me about that," he said. "I didn't see it until the second time I saw [the movie], which was at the premiere. That's when I saw it. And I thought it was a glitch. I was like, 'What was that?' And I found out it was this whole thing that they'd planned." Stahl-David also said that viewing the film on a television screen may lessen the feelings of motion sickness that affected some moviegoers in the theater. "I think there's a lot less of that, fortunately," he said. "I don't think it's going to be a problem on the DVD. I felt bad for those people who got sick. But it's totally different on a small screen." Paramount has already green-lighted a sequel to the film based on its performance at the box office. What the story will be and whether it will feature any of the original cast members has yet to be decided. "All I've heard is that they have some ideas that they're excited about, but they're in the early stages of it now," Stahl-David said. "But I would be very surprised if I did hear that they wanted me to do that, because they've got to find another way to come at it, I feel like. They want it to be as exciting as it was before. I think people have seen me running around enough." Cloverfield will be released on DVD April 22. |
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| Cloverfield 'better seen at home' Monster film Cloverfield will play even better when watched at home, according to its producer JJ Abrams. "The thing about this movie - probably more than any I think - is that it is better on DVD than in the theatre," the US filmmaker told Reuters. "The movie is like a videotape. It lives on your TV. In many ways, it is supposed to be viewed on a monitor." Abrams' blockbuster film, in which a giant monster terrorises New York, is out on DVD in the US this week. Released to cinemas under a veil of secrecy earlier this year, it topped both the US and UK box office charts. The film, directed by Matt Reeves, follows a group of friends as they are caught up in an attack on New York City. 'Terrifying' All the viewer sees, however, is the shaky handheld video camera footage of the disaster one of the group records as he flees the carnage. "We really tried to take the position that less is more," Abrams told the Associated Press. "When you're not actually seeing things but anticipating them, it can be much more terrifying." Named after a street near the filmmaker's office, Cloverfield was originally a code name for the movie. In the end, though, it became the title because Abrams could not find one he liked better. The director and producer is currently working on a new Star Trek film which shows the crew of the Starship Enterprise in their early days. The challenge, the 41-year-old told Reuters, was "to take something that was imaginative and unreal and make it feel as real as possible". Story from BBC NEWS: |
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Cloverfield Sequel Not Certain? J.J. Abrams, co-producer of the hit monster film Cloverfield, said that a sequel may or may not happen and revealed that he's more inclined to do something with his Cloverfield partners, writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves, other than a follow-up. "We're talking about it," Abrams said of Cloverfield 2 during an interview at the Fox upfront presentation for advertisers in New York on May 15, where he was promoting his upcoming SF TV series Fringe. "But the truth is there's another idea that I'd rather do with the same people than do a sequel. It's a whole new thing." Abrams added, "So my dream is to work with [Goddard and Reeves] again, but do something that's [new]. Having said that, Drew and Matt both, separately, have really good ideas for what [Cloverfield 2] could be. So I don't know. We'll see. I know the studio wants it." |