A new Cloverfield movie is coming soon…
But it may not get a theatrical release.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, online streaming giant Netflix is currently in talks to acquire the upcoming Cloverfield film, previously known as God Particle.
“Netflix is in talks to acquire God Particle from Paramount, the studio that made the latest thriller from J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield movie series,” they revealed.
“It is unclear if a deal will be made, but if the ink does dry, it will come on the heels of Paramount’s December deal with Netflix in which it unloaded the new Alex Garland-directed movie, Annihilation, on the digital streamer, which picked up all international territories except domestic from the studio.”
Of course, Paramount Pictures was due to release the film in April 2018.
But now it looks as though the sci-fi flick may not get a theatrical release.
This feels like a bit of a blow to the upcoming Cloverfield film. After all, Paramount has previously released two Cloverfield movies to great success – the original became a huge hit after a successful viral marketing campaign and mysterious untitled trailers.
The original Cloverfield was released in 2008 and was made for $25 million. It ended up grossing $80 domestically and raked in a cool $170.7 million at the global box office. 10 Cloverfield Lane was just as impressive in the US – made on a budget of just $15 million, it went on to make $72 million domestically, with a global box office haul of $110.2 million.
Why the sudden interest from Netflix?
Well, it’s a bit of a no-brainer from Netflix’s point of view. It’s already investing in plenty of original ideas – high-concept Fantasy and Sci-Fi leads the way with the likes of Bright and the upcoming sci-fi thriller, Mute by the ever-awesome Duncan Jones. Bolstering its slate with a Cloverfield film would obviously be a big deal.
But it leaves me wondering why Paramount are happy to sell it on.
Either way, this could be a huge deal for Netflix… and a big loss for Cloverfield. After all, a theatrical release for something like Cloverfield is always something to enjoy, especially with Abrams taking a very secretive and mysterious approach to the franchise’s marketing.
Let’s just hope that wherever it ends up, the mystery box remains.
