As more information comes out about the upcoming Bad Robot-produced film, God Particle, we get more excited about it. A sci-fi film with two amazingly talented black leads? Sign me up! However, how much information is too much information? And when should “insider sources” just hold their water and shut the hell up?
Now, since there are no sources named, this should probably go in the “rumor” category, but according to The Wrap, “an insider familiar with the project” has revealed that God Particle is actually the next film in a planned Cloverfield cinematic universe, and that “[n]ot only will Particle be the third in a series of connected Cloverfield films, but [J.J.] Abrams and studio partner Paramount Pictures are quietly developing more movies for the shared universe, the individual said. Both parties hope to release a new film in the shared Cloverfield [universe] each year, the insider added.”
Now, the plan for a larger Cloverfield universe hasn’t exactly been a secret. While promoting 10 Cloverfield Lane, J.J. Abrams talked about the fact that there are bigger plans for a Cloverfield franchise:
Yet, Abrams is purposely vague in describing those plans, and so something rubs me the wrong way about someone revealing a God Particle connection to that universe, especially so far in advance of its February release.
Now, as you hear in the interview above, 10 Cloverfield Lane didn’t even have an IMDb page three months before its release. The stars themselves didn’t even know they were in a Cloverfield movie until after they’d already started doing press for it. Hell, even the film’s producers didn’t start it out as a Cloverfield film until it was well into development, and they realized that there were thematic similarities between it and the original Cloverfield.
Point being, one of the things that made 10 Cloverfield Lane awesome, in addition to it being a well-crafted thriller, is that it was such a complete and total surprise. It wasn’t until Paramount and Bad Robot released the chilling first trailer two months before the film that audiences even had an inkling that there was even the possibility of another Cloverfield movie.
Now, this unofficial announcement by an insider talking to The Wrap could be a planned part of the roll-out. Bad Robot does love them some clues and misdirects, after all, and I wouldn’t put it past them to plant an “insider source” as a fancy bit of marketing. But it reads like someone leaking information they shouldn’t, and if that’s the case, that really sucks. In an age when people clamor to post spoilers first by taking unauthorized photos on sets they sneak onto, it’s nice when a film can be a surprise. While Abrams has talked about a Cloverfield anthology of some kind, it was a vague description that could’ve meant any number of things.
Obviously, we were going to find out about the next Cloverfield project eventually, and this may even be it. But I kinda wish that people wouldn’t try so hard to look for scoops when it comes to stories being told. I’m a girl who loves surprises.
(image via screencap)
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Published: Oct 27, 2016 02:44 pm