1-18-08 Project Cloverfield - Warning! Spoilers

What could possibly be more important than news on the upcoming J.J. Abrams flick, Cloverfield /1-18-08?

How about a sequel to one of the greatest surf movies of all time. Yes, they're going to make Point Break 2! We can finally know the fate of Johnny Utah and Bodhi.

Oh, I can die happy now...

While everything else is downhill from there, I guess I'll just have to see what else is going on. Actuall, only a tiny amount of Cloverfield -1-18-08 related news brewing today. Most of J.J.'s news is centered around the Star Trek movie he's making while the Cloverfield/1-18-08 gets a news update once every 2 weeks.

As you may know, the big news this week is the pre-screen of the new Cloverfield/1-18-08 trailer by CHUD. While only time will tell its validity the real fact that only 11 weeks remain until the movie actually hits.

The Bad Robot homepage got a minor update this past week. This is the production unit of J.J. Abrams and it features only a bad robot graphic. The only difference is the picture size. It's about 1/3 the size it used to be and was for years. A small and insignificant update but the fact they are glossing up their homepage (which is linking via the official Apple trailer) might mean some updates coming soon.

Which leads me to this great find by Cloverfield News about one of the production houses, The Third Floor, who is working on the Cloverfield/1-18-08 movie. As a huge fan of cinema and future producer I find the work that The Third Floor does highly interesting and extremely valuable.

The Third Floor does pre-viz, or pre-visulization. Think of it as electronic storyboards where directors can have quick models of their movies created to see how they will look finalized. Very important when you're working with CG monsters and sets. Their work also includes texturing and 3-D tracking.

They have a great sample reel of their movies clips which demonstrates their work. This group is huge and has done animatics for George Lucas on Star Wars III as well as a range of movies from the Narnia series to Cloverfield.

• Bad Robot Homepage>
• Surf's Up! Point Break 2>
• The Third Floor Inc., Previsualization for Cloverfield/1-18-08>
  

So while we're waiting on Cloverfield/1-18-08 to bring us some news, lets check out what else is going on in the world of movies.

• National Treasure: Book of Secrets has launched a new trailer (here). The original cast and crew including Nicolas Cage return. And how can they top stealing the Declaration of Independence? By kidnapping the President, of course.
• Indiana Jones 4 has wrapped and gotten a nice, new website (here) complete with the Indian Jones theme music.
  
• The X-files are coming back to the big screen. Word is Chris Carter and gang will reunite for a brand new motion picture (here)
• Unlike Cloverfield, the new Dark Knight flick has a healthy viral campaign. Check out the new developments including a new movie still of Heath Ledger as The Joker (more)
  

The time may be near for 1-18-08/Cloverfield to be titled and a full-length trailer released. A few major websites like /Film and Coming Soon seem to think the upcoming Beowulf movie would be a perfect time to launch the 1-18-08/Cloverfield trailer.

Sounds good to me! If you have visited this site before than you'll know I have shared that opinion, too. (See 1-18-08/Cloverfield Trailer Speculation) Plus, it's a great opportunity to post that picture of the CG-Angelina Jolie.

Also of note is the upcoming Wachowski Brothers version of Speed Racer is being touted as a technological marvel for its full-blown, full-screen camera style. A new and expensive camera was used for the Speed Racer adaptation which created the full-screen effect. That trailer should be out at Christmas time.

• Beowulf Official Site>
• New 1-18-08/Cloverfield Trailer and Title, Christmas Speed Racer Trailer>
  

One blog (see here) has taken a look at the ripple effect for the Cloverfield/1-18-08 marketing department that will occur when or if a movie title is announced. More preciscely, the post looks at the effect a name change will have on the Google search engines. While this is far from being a precise tool to measure a movie's marketing, it does bring up some key issues on the project.

The author seems to think that keeping with the codename 'Cloverfield' will be the best marketing decision. Keep in mind that the author is using his projected Google scenerio as his source of data. While search results are key to any website or movie, with a viral project like this the bulk of the data is being heavily driven by forums, blogs, and movie websites.

The title of the movie won't live or die by how Google Trends sees the movie. Instead, the film will fill seats by what Ain't It Cool News, Slash Film, and unFiction mention. With a timeline now of 3 months until the release, 1-18-08 has garnered enough buzz on so few facts that the first wealth of information that overwhelms the fans and bystanders alike that it will easily create enough of a factor for the Google Trends that will ride the movie into opening week.

As for keeping the term 'Cloverfield' as the movies title I personally couldn't disagree more with the Marketing author about keeping that term. If your choices are using 'Cloverfield' or the release date 1-18-08, it makes more sense to use '1-18-08' than 'Cloverfield.' The only real exception is to tie in the 'Cloverfield' term into something relevant to the movie such as the secret, underwater ingredient in Slusho is called a 'Cloverfield' because of its color. Even that is too much of a stretch for my liking. At this time I can't see how the term could fit in.

I've liked '1-18-08' as the title for awhile now for multiple reasons. Like the arguement for 'Cloverfield' the date '1-18-08' is already established. The movie is supposed to take place that night which connects the title and movie. Plus, Paramount's homepage now refers to the movie as '1-18-08.'

Cloverfield/1-18-08 Official Website

I get a lot of emails and comments in regard to the true '1-18-08' website which is the official site for the movie. The majority of them are about flipping the pictures over and the roar that occurs about 6 minutes after opening the site up.

Here's a quick summary of the site to help those getting starting on this mysterious movie. To date the film has no official title. Most of us call it 'Cloverfield' (production codename) or '1-18-18' (release date). As of last week, Paramount Studios is referencing the movie no longer as "The Untitled JJ Abrams" movie but is calling it '1-18-08.'

The '1-18-08' website is the official site of the movie. It gained notice back in July a week or two after the trailer appeared before the Transformers. It featured a single picture that you could move but not flip over. Four more pictures would appear and then no updates occurred.

Somewhere in early August it happened that the pictures could be flipped over. There's some writing on 2 of the pictures. August 23rd saw the site go down for a day and redirect toward Paramount Pictures, who is distributing the film. The site came back up later that day with no visible changes.

August 24th saw the audio file of the monster roar for the first time. The sound file was added during the downtime the day before and if you opened up the site and left it untouched you would hear the monster roar about 6 minutes later.

Here is a sample of the roar from the 1-18-08 website so you don't have to wait 6 minutes:

1-18-08 Cloverfield Monster Roar

Cloverfield/1-18-08 Fake Trailer

Someone made a fairly decent fan trailer for '1-18-08' which was released this week. It features a reporter for the news station seen in the original trailer. One viewing of the clip will instantly give you a very amateurish feel with pieces lifted from the original trailer.

However, I can't knock the creators of this fan film too much. They did a good job and so far have put our more this month than JJ Abrams and Co.

Cloverfield/1-18-08 Trailer 2 (Fake)

So when will trailer 2 surface? There have been a couple of rumors that one would show up during the showing of 'Resident Evil' which opened last week or during 'Stardust' a few months back.

The safe money says the trailer will be controlled by JJ Abrams and Paramount. This movie has a lot of buzz and Paramount is probably going to release the trailer (if they have a say) during the opening of one of their movies. 'Resident Evil' was released by Sony and it doesn't make sense to promote the opening of a rival studios film unless they are willing to return to favor.

Dreamworks is currently a part of Paramount so looking at the 2 studios fall release schedules there are a couple of big movies coming out:

Oct 5: The Farrelly Brothers “THE HEARTBREAK KID”
Oct 21: “THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE” A drama staring Halle Berry
Nov 2: “BEE MOVIE” Jerry Seinfeld's CG animated tale
Nov 16: "BEOWULF" Angelina Jolie
Dec 21: “SWEENEY TODD -The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" Tim Burton and Johnny Depp

My money is on "Beowulf" for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only film on the list produced only by Paramount (no Dreamworks) and is tracking real high with it's buzz. "Beowulf" has gotten a lot of buzz for its CG-laden retelling of the classic story as well as a huge 'geek' boost from all the CG animation of Angelina Jolie, which was promoted during July's Comic-con.

Second, November 16th is 2 months before the main release date for our movie and a perfect time to kick up the buzz and interest in '1-18-08' during the busy holiday season. The audience for both movies matches up great.

Of course the bad news is that it's still 1 1/2 months away and I don't want to wait that long.

Cloverfield/1-18-08 Special Effects/Monster

Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is giving a report that FX master Phil Tippett is working on the JJ Abrams Project Cloverfield. No details were given and Tippett's been in the business long enough you won't see an accidental leak.

Tippett Studios was formed by the talented Phil who made a great career in Hollywood doing monsters and stop-motion FX for movies. CG is now incorporated into his studio but Phil is well known for creating monster designs. His work has ranged from Star Wars to Starship Troopers

'LOST' Season Four

A quick note about JJ Abrams related 'Lost.' The new fall season has started this week and many of you will not see 'Lost' in the lineup even though it is still active. The producers and ABC have agreed to air the episodes in sequence starting in early February. So, '1-18-08' will have arrived 3 weeks before new episodes of even 'Lost' air.

A new hatch, The Orchid, was exposed during Comic-con last summer involving more training videos:

New Lost Season 4 New Hatch!, The Orchid

"So before I go any further... If you don't want to know the details of the movie.. than don't read after this point.. I won't give away everything.. but just certain things we've all been wondering. IT IS LONG AND I APOLOGIZE, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE AS MUCH INFO AS I CAN....

So.. basically I came across this board and found a lot of interesting theories and many ridiculous ones as well.. I myself became a a fan of the trailer and (like many of you) have been trying to and out what this movie is about.

As a member of the entertainment industry.. I was finally able to crack someone (a friend I trust) inside into giving me at least some details...(No, it's not J.J or Reeves or someone big.. but he/she does work and has been on set of the movie... And since he/she, like anyone working on the movie, are on a strict gag order, I figure I will post this as my own "THEORY" in order to protect him/her. So this is my "THEORY"

So basically the trailer created a phenomenon that J.J and the producers never thought it would. After the buzz from the media and Internet about the mysterious trailer, J.j saw this as a great marketing ploy to create even more buzz over this small little film. Yes! this movie was originally intended to just be a nice cult classic that monster movie lovers would like. This is, in fact, your basic monster movie with an American touch. It is no secret that J.J is a fan of monster movies and wanted to make America have it's own monster... There is a problem though....

THE MONSTER:

The monster is not American at all.... The monster did go through its infancy and grew up under the Atlantic, but its origin, like Godzilla, came from Japan. This is where the Slusho reference comes from. Slusho does have a part in the movie, but is not as significant as people would think. It plays a small role in the beginning of the movie as to the origin of the monster. This was as much info on the monster as I can get... the reason for this is because no, including cast and crew has actually seen the monster. I don't even think J.J knows what the final monster will look like.. that is being kept very secret... The monster will be entirely in CGI where, indeed, most of the films budget will go.... There weren't even any animatronic hands or feet on set which implies that there will be no real/direct contact with the monster and cast (unless it's all CGI)..... And as for the theories of multiple monsters... NO.. sorry, it is only one gigantic monster.

To conclude, it is not Godzilla, A lion, Voltron, Rampage.. or any of the other monsters people have been thinking... it will be original and it will be a Creature of some sort (not robot)... they are still working on what it will actually look like..

THE PLOT:

So, again, I could only get so much info on the topic... But basically this film has seen more rewrites than... well.. whatever other movie has seen a lot of rewrites... a lot basically. Originally the entire film was all destruction from beginning to end, J.J wanted all action, all the time. It was, like I said, your basic Monster movie, no real plot, as long as people die and te monster destroys a lot of stuff... But after the buzz over the trailer, the producers felt that there needed to be more to the story than just things blowing up... so the rewrites began.. but there was only so much they can do.... They did give a little bit on Rob and Beth and they're crushes.. and a little bit on the brother and friends.. but for the most part. .there's no real character development in this movie... And so... the myspaces were created to give the characters a little more back story.. this way, true fans will know much about the characters when the film finally does release... but those who only have seen the trailer and never took anything out of it than another monster movie and won't get much back story on the characters... since the plan is to make most of the movie about the destruction... Though... the monster will not truly be revealed until about 30 minutes in to the movie...

THE STYLE:

Though many feel that the movie will consist of home video to give it a more "real" effect.. this is not true... The film will be shot the way we see any other movie (we'll call it Film Look) but will have parts in home video, like the trailer. In fact, what we see in the trailer is in the movie, but there are "Film Look" scenes in between that we haven't seen. As much as some people would like to see a Blair Witch style movie with this film... it simply doesn't work... everything would be too shaky and the audience will be too bored with the handheld... and if the film was shot that way.... it would suggest that, like Blair witch, the monster would be difficult to see or not seen at all.. which would not satisfy the audience.. and So I guess we get the best of both worlds with both styles integrated... Plus... who holds on to a camera the hole time..It's just not believable....

THE SITES:

So the official sites are still 1-18-08.com and Slusho.jp.. no warbloid or rage of the gods....though Slusho doesn't have that big of a part in the movie, it does have the most clues as to the origins of the monster...but I don't know, my friend doesn't know... but some one knows what they're doing.. but it's too confusing and frustrating to crack the "codes" so to speak.. And then there's 1-18-08.com.... There are still only 5 pictures with two of them having messages.... There are no real clues in these pictures.. I'm sorry.. The pictures were put up there as more teasers as to what happened that night..giving you a time frame. There are no hidden messages and if they are.. we'll never find out until the movie comes out...

But Good news... the producers are listening to the fans who are frustrated with the mystery and know that you can only hold out for so long... A reason for this is was the lousy roar that was inserted 6 minutes into staying on the site... the producers found out that you guys were outraged that a new picture or some form of information was giving.. it was just a roar.. so they want to make up for it...

TITLES and NEW TRAILERS:

So everyone has been wondering what the title will be... and you are no different from the producers... when production began.. the film still didn't have a title... Cloverfield, Slusho, Etc. were just working titles (I'm sure we all knew that) But J.J really, really wanted to get the trailer out in time for the release of Transformers since he's smart and knows that it will be seen a lot with a blockbuster like that... So what do they do... they push it with no title and what they had shot already.. hence... we all saw what some have said to be the greatest trailer ever made.. though it was all pretty much a fluke by J.J for not having a title ready... not to say that they didn't know what they were doing... I'm sure they wanted the movie to seem mysterious.. but there was not title to release at the point... And if that weren't enough.. they did decide to release the title at Comicon..but after the poster leak fiasco.... they scratched it and went back to the drawing board... It was going to be Monstrous (and they saved themselves by releasing other posters with other adjectives)... but because of the leak.. they decided to change it again... soon Overnight and Parasite were scratched and the newest "weak" title "Wreck" will soon be scratched... For some reason J.J wants to keep the title one word.. it's like his thing (Alias, Lost).. and not very elaborate titles.. just basic words... but I dunno if we'll be happy with the final title...but as for now.. they're still working on it..

Which leads to the new trailer that will soon come out that will AGAIN have no title!!!! What is up with that.. give it a title already!!.. But the new trailer will consist of actual scenes related to the aftermath of the first trailer.. This includes Rob among other friends struggling to get away from the monster (which won't be shown of course.. again)... ad find themselves at a first aid center where (as I have seen on previous posts on the new trailer).. will have "infected people".. but no.. this will not be a monster/zombie movie.. the infection is a result from a mysterious ooze that comes from the monster.. upon contact.. they get sick and may look like zombies.. but do not hunt for brains... It just makes them look like crap for some reason..

So that's my theory.. I'm sure I left some stuff out.. but I can only remember so much.... So, personally, I don't think the movie will live up to the hype.. I think we all wanted a little bit more out of this movie.. but we'll soon find out that the phenomenon was basically a fluke which went to the producers advantage.. and now we're left with the obsession of trying to find out what this movie is about and they're struggling to try and live up to the hype.. it's just a big mess.. " [...original post]

One of the biggest mysteries of the Cloverfield monster movie is what the bloody title of the film will be.

The codename Cloverfield and the release date 1-18-08 were what we have been accustomed to calling the film. Now, a website called Bloody-disgusting is claiming the new title of the film will be WRECK.

This goes onto the list with MONSTROUS, PARASITE, and OVERNIGHT. The title 'Wreck' doesn't really seem to fit the movie but it is better than Godzilla. I'm starting to lean toward the notion that they are using the Internet as a test base. What better way to gauge fan reaction than to trickled out an idea and watch how people react?

cloverfield
1-18-08
wreck

I've checked out the 1-18-08 Official Site today and there were no updates. I checked later today and it was gone. It redirects to the Paramount homepage.

Does this mean that they are revising the site or maybe making a new one with the title of the film? At this point there's no telling.

The site had updated 5 times in July with new pictures added. Then they made it where you could flip the pictures over and some had text.

But for the last couple of weeks the site has been silent with no updates. Now, it looks like they might be up to something.

1-18-08 - Five News Cloverfield
1-18-08 Cloverfield Original Trailer

No new trailers, pictures, posters, or information has leaked out on the 1-18-08 movie in quite awhile. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of "I have inside, secret information..." sites and information out there.

That's getting a little old.

That's the problem with viral-based movies or websites. With enough downtime, people start making stuff up. They make stuff up anyway, but without real facts coming in the junk is more prominent. The actual amount of information out on the Cloverfield movie that is legit is very little. A teaser trailer. A poster. A few websites.

However, the storyline is AWOL and the picture doesn't even have a title yet.

Now, some of you might ask why would the producers of the movie choose such a route?

Usually, it comes down to budget. The 1-18-08 movie is slated to be a rather small budgeted movie of a reported $30 Million. That's a very small budget for any monster/sci-fi flick. With a cast of no-names and a super secret plot, producer JJ Abrams may have turned to the net for promotional reasons.

JJ's success with viral promotions for his other TV shows have helped promote his product immensely. TV promos and posters cost money. If people are promoting your movie through forums, blogs, and websites then you have a chance to not only get great buzz for the movie but to get feedback as well.

Mental Floss takes a look at How Do You Advertise a Movie with No Name? The viral promotion of such blockbusters as "Blair Witch" and "A.I" have set the bar which Cloverfield has a chance to easily overtake.

1-18-08 Cloverfield Sound Effect

JJ Abrams - 2007 Comic-con

Although the story should take place mostly in New York City, various shoots occurred in different parts of L.A. which are thought to mimic scenes in New York City that weren't feasible to be shot in Manhattan. Military crews arriving in the city and numerous explosions and firefights were reported to be carried out in these scenes. The crew then headed to finish up the film in New York City where they were centered around destroyed city street sets (see Say Cheese ! 'Cloverfield' Being Shot Right Now in NYC ), a shoot at Coney Island, and a shoot in Central Park. ( see Cloverfield Central Park Shoot Videos )

1-18-08 Cloverfield Working Titles and Set Notes

The "Untitled J.J. Abrams Project" is called either 'Cloverfield' or '1-18-08' in most circles. However, when filming in L.A. and New York City the production team used many fake names like 'Chocolate,' 'Cheese,' and 'Slusho.' Hardcore fans of Abrams' "Alias" may remember "Slusho," a Slurpee-type beverage, from the second episode of the series when Vaughn offers one to Sydney.

IGN was able to get a copy of a shooting description during the L.A. 'Slusho' days that explained : "Exterior dialogue. Driving scenes. Occasional traffic & pedestrian control. Camera & equipment on sidewalk, street and property. 200 extras. Military vehicles. Destruction aftermath. Weapons brandished. Emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Exterior dialogue on fire escape on 8th floor." (see 'Slusho' Filming )

During the NYC shoot, a copy of the call sheet for the movie was snagged and published by New York Magazine. The movie shoot for that part of the movie involved scenes from Central Park and was being filmed under the fake title 'Cheese.' (see Paramount Cease and Desist )

The Cheese call sheet revealed a 33 day shoot with possible plot spoilers. Since the publication of the call sheet, Paramount's lawyers have officially sent out Ceased & Desist letters for the publication of the Cheese call sheet which gives weight to their being legit.

Only a handful of inexperienced and young actors have been confirmed for the 1-18-08 cast. The only major actor confirmed to take part in the film is Greg Grunberg (see Greg Grunberg Will Be In ‘Cloverfield’ ), who currently stars as police man Matt Parker on the hit NBC show, HEROES. Grunberg and Abrams have been friends for many years and it is almost a sure thing that Grunberg will pop up with a cameo in any Abrams project.

The lead role is slated for Michael Stahl-David who will play character Rob Hawkins, a businessman who is having a party at his NYC apartment the night before leaving to Japan.

Other cast members include Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Greg Grunberg, and Blake Lively.

MySpace profiles (see 1-18-08 Picture #5 And New Characters )have been created for the characters and can be found here:
http://www.myspace.com/jamielascano
http://www.myspace.com/robbyhawkins
http://www.myspace.com/lily_ford
http://www.myspace.com/beth_mcintyre
http://www.myspace.com/jj_hawkins
http://www.myspace.com/marlenadiamond
http://www.myspace.com/hudsonplatt

1-18-08 will be directed by Matt Reeves. Previous work by Reeves include writing movies such as The Pallbearer, The Yards, and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Reeves worked for JJ Abrams for the show "Felicity" for which Reeves not only wrote for but also directed a handful of episodes.

1-18-08 was written by Drew Goddard, who is another Abrams alumni. Goddard wrote and produced episodes for Abrams projects "Lost" and "Alias" as well as writing for cult favorites "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin off, "Angel."

Bryan Burk helped produced and his previous experience include working with Abrams on all his projects since "Alias"

J.J. Abrams created the 1-18-08 film for his Bad Robot Productions. Abrams has been the catalyst for multiple hit Television shows including "Alias," "Lost," and "Felicity." He made his feature film debut as director for Mission: Impossible III, which was the highest budgeted film for a first time director at around $200 Million.

"I have nothing against larger budget films, but as someone who's worked in television, I know that some pretty powerful stories can be told for somewhere under $200 million," Abrams said.

Although Abrams will direct the upcoming Star Trek film, he has expressed an interest in creating smaller budgeted films. Last summer Abrams signed multi-year movie deals, five years for Paramount and six years for Warner Bros., to make Abrams one of the highest paid writer-producers in Hollywood.

The 1-18-08 poster released during the 2007 Comic-con featured an image of the Statue of Liberty as seen from behind and having it's head ripped off. A water trail, evidence of something big, leads toward Manhattan where a gap of smoke and destruction open up. Prior to Comic-con a bootleg pic of the poster was revealed with the title 'MONSTROUS' at the top. (see 'MONSTROUS' Poster Explained )

This led many to believe it to be the title of the movie. However, JJ Abrams debunked that theory by saying that was not the title and it was one of 4 posters mocked up with adjectives describing the movie. Other titles are FURIOUS, TERRIFYING, and BARBAROUS with all but the last having been found.

1-18-08.com Contains photos which are draggable around your screen and now can be flipped over to reveal messages selected . Each photo is time stamped with the date 1-18-08

Slusho is a fake Japanese drink company. Think of it like a Slushee but apparently made from ingredients found from the bottom of the ocean.


More sites with 1-18-08 information:

• 1-18-08 (2008) - MovieWeb



• Cloverfield - From Wikipedia



• It's Alive: 1-18-08 The scoop on J.J. Abrams' top secret project.



• Apple - Trailers - 01-18-08



• Untitled J.J. Abrams Project (2008)



• Cloverfield / 1-18-08 Video Secrets and More!



• 1-18-08 Video Clips, Previews, Teasers & Trailers - MovieWeb
  1-18-08 (2008)