JJ Abrams mystery movie project

[JasonEvans]

My real reason for writing in to this thread though was to see if anyone had any info on the JJ Abrams trailer that was one of the previews at my theater..seemed like some sort of monster destroying New York...anyone have any info on the name and premise of the movie?

I moved this from the Transformers thread because I have a feeling this will take on a life of its own and we will be talking about it long after Transformers leaves theaters.

The trailer you saw is for a "untitled" JJ Abrams project that is being called "Cloverfield" though I am fairly sure that is just a code name and not the official title of the film. JJ is not directing it, though he is the producer and it is being done through his Bad Robot production company.

It is a "monster" movie that is 100% shot on handheld cameras to give it a Blair Witch or CNN iReport feel. Unlike Blair Witch there will obviously be extensive special efffects used but the handheld camera stuff is supposed to make it feel more "real" than other sci-fi movies.

Paramount and JJ are doing a ton of hush-hush viral marketting for this thing. The trailer was the first wide-spread marketing but they have not released the trailer to anyone in the media nor have they made it available on any website. In other words, the only way you can see it is to go see Transformers or look at cell-phone video shot by people in theaters at the start of Transformers.

"Cloverfield" does not have any big name stars in it and the casting call was really strange as no scripts were sent out to agents. Here is the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield) entry on it. You can read more there.

--Jason "this seems very JJ to be mysterious and strange" Evans

[JasonEvans]

This website has a pretty good version of the trailer that you can see. It will probably be taken down soon, so check it out quick!

http://www.ethanhaasthoughts.blogspot.com/

-Jason "I went to the http://www.ethanhaaswasright.com/ website too and solved a couple of the puzzles-- apparently if you solve all 5 they will send you an email on Aug 1 with 'whatever is next'" Evans

[JasonEvans]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im7wWMVzIyg

You have got to watch this video where some guy put together a video looking for hints about the movie from the trailer. It is hysterical in its insanity. The stuff in the middle where he begins discussing the fact that numbers are divisible by 3 is just too insane.

This is fun!!

-Jason "the viral marketting for this movie is insane!!" Evans

[bluebear]

Thanks for the info...that youtube video was even more interesting than the trailer itself..I love the part about voice analysis on the "roar"...Should be great buzz and speculation about this over the next few months..

[TheGodfather]

--Jason "this seems very JJ to be mysterious and strange" Evans



Could it be the smoke monster from Lost?

In his latest projects JJ has developed a strong pattern of leaving things unexplained (What is the Lost Island(s), Is Rambaldi still alive, What is the Rabbit's foot) but connected (The gang from Alias listening to Driveshaft, The makers of MI:3 thanking the Hanso Foundation). Could the secrecy behind this latest project be because the Smoke Monster from the Lost Island has escaped? It would explain why the monster isn't seen.

The Rabbit's Foot after falling into the wrong hands has increased the power of the Smoke Monster which was created by Rambaldi?

[alteran]

I moved this from the Transformers thread because I have a feeling this will take on a life of its own and we will be talking about it long after Transformers leaves theaters.

The trailer you saw is for a "untitled" JJ Abrams project that is being called "Cloverfield" though I am fairly sure that is just a code name and not the official title of the film. JJ is not directing it, though he is the producer and it is being done through his Bad Robot production company.

It is a "monster" movie that is 100% shot on handheld cameras to give it a Blair Witch or CNN iReport feel. Unlike Blair Witch there will obviously be extensive special efffects used but the handheld camera stuff is supposed to make it feel more "real" than other sci-fi movies.

Paramount and JJ are doing a ton of hush-hush viral marketting for this thing. The trailer was the first wide-spread marketing but they have not released the trailer to anyone in the media nor have they made it available on any website. In other words, the only way you can see it is to go see Transformers or look at cell-phone video shot by people in theaters at the start of Transformers.

"Cloverfield" does not have any big name stars in it and the casting call was really strange as no scripts were sent out to agents. Here is the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield) entry on it. You can read more there.

--Jason "this seems very JJ to be mysterious and strange" Evans

This is awesome, I'll bet this'll be the biggest viral marketing thing since Snakes on a Plane! ;-)

--alteran

p.s. All sarcasm aside, this looks pretty good. If only they could have Samuel L. Jackson leave a message on my answering machine.

[Exiled_Devil]

I don't know - the bar was set by "I love bees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_love_bees)" as far as viral marketing goes. That was a full blown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game, and people were literally going to payphones and wating for potential calls.

Given how the Lost Experience was last summer, this should ba an interesting campaign. Something to keep me occupied while I wait for Lost and Battlestar Galactica to return!


Exiled

[BlueDiablo]

The trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/) is up at Apple.com.

[Chard]

The trailer had me excited. I really like the hand held look. It added to the realism. I wonder what it is about. I certainly hope it is not a smoke monster.

[Pacer]

The Ethan Haas sites are fakes..


http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33261

[Chard]

Okay. If you go to this site:

http://www.1-18-08.com/

You'll get two pictures. One of the party and one of two women who look up and appear to be upset. If you refresh or navigate back then the pictures are randomly rearranged. Both are time stamped. The party pic says 01/18/2008 12:01A. The two women pic says 01/18/2008 12:36A. However, the two women pic is actually a wrapped pic of the same woman.

Arrgh, viral!

My guess: Godzirra.

[Exiled_Devil]

new info -

site called slusho.jp (http://slusho.jp/)

I have no idea why or how it is involved, but I read that there are more viral sites out there.

Here is where I got the info:

slashfilm entry (http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/07/09/confirmed-slushojp-is-a-cloverfield-viral-website/)

Exiled

[JasonEvans]

Okay. If you go to this site:

http://www.1-18-08.com/

You'll get two pictures. One of the party and one of two women who look up and appear to be upset. If you refresh or navigate back then the pictures are randomly rearranged. Both are time stamped. The party pic says 01/18/2008 12:01A. The two women pic says 01/18/2008 12:36A. However, the two women pic is actually a wrapped pic of the same woman.

Arrgh, viral!

My guess: Godzirra.

The two pictures are moveable. You can put your mouse on them and move them around. I am sure there is some pattern or way of moving the pictures that will cause the website to DO SOMETHING but I have no idea what it is.

Also, the pictures of the two women are not a wrapped picture of jsut one person. It appears they could be, but I have read several blogs that dispute that and seem to indicate it is not the same person.

Also, for a while there was a belief that in between the two women you could see a form of a monster. It has now been determined in the blogosphere that all you can see is hair ;)

--Jason "yes, this is crazy!" EVans

[JasonEvans]

My guess: Godzirra.

One more thing, it is not Godzilla. These films are being made by Paramount and that studio does not have the rights to the giant lizzard. Additionally, Togo or Toho or Tojo or whaterver the studio is that owns the worldwide rights to Gozilla has stated that the radioactive dude is "retired" until 2016 or something like that. They have been adamant about not killing the franchise by making too many films.

My guess-- we won't see whatever it is. I bet the movie is about the people who are trying to survive and we never see the monster. That would be very "JJ," don't you think?

-Jason "sorta like in MI:III how we never learned what the thing was that PSHoffman wanted Cruise to steal" Evans

[BlueDiablo]

My guess-- we won't see whatever it is. I bet the movie is about the people who are trying to survive and we never see the monster. That would be very "JJ," don't you think?

-Jason "sorta like in MI:III how we never learned what the thing was that PSHoffman wanted Cruise to steal" Evans

LOST is *extremely* found of using MacGuffins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin) (and was even more so back when JJ was still involved).

[Chard]

The two pictures are moveable. You can put your mouse on them and move them around. I am sure there is some pattern or way of moving the pictures that will cause the website to DO SOMETHING but I have no idea what it is.

Also, the pictures of the two women are not a wrapped picture of jsut one person. It appears they could be, but I have read several blogs that dispute that and seem to indicate it is not the same person.

Also, for a while there was a belief that in between the two women you could see a form of a monster. It has now been determined in the blogosphere that all you can see is hair ;)

--Jason "yes, this is crazy!" EVans

I don't know about that (http://tinyurl.com/yusgd2). Looks like the same woman to me. Then again, the nose is wrong, the eyebrows are different. Oh, well. This is fun.

Dang, you quashed my guess.

[Exiled_Devil]

People with more time than us discussing 1-18-08 (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19964)

I read a page or two - this is the group that will crack this if anyone does.

Exiled

[Rich]

More discussion and background at http://www.argn.com/archive/000611its_alive_its_huge_its_11808.php

[riverside6]

A Third picture now shows at http://www.1-18-08.com/

[JasonEvans]

A Third picture now shows at http://www.1-18-08.com/

It looks like something out of 9-11, with dust and smoke filling the air.

The movie is still so far away, I think it may be early for online role playing or whatever they call it to really get started.

-Jason "JJ knows buzz!" Evans