Cloverfield

guckst du ma den Mist an

Cloverfield ist einer von vielen Arbeitstiteln des von J. J. Abrams produzierten Spielfilms. Regie führte Matt Reeves, das Drehbuch stammt von Drew Goddard. Der erste Trailer zu dem Film wurde erstmals vor Transformers gezeigt, dabei wurde der Titel nicht aufgedeckt. Es war lediglich ein Datum (01-18-08, oder 18. Januar 2008) zu sehen, was sich als Kinostart-Datum, aber auch als das Datum der Geschehnisse im Film herausgestellt hatte. Da kein anderer Titel bis hin zum zweiten Trailer bekannt gegeben wurde, gilt das Datum (01-18-08) auch als ein vorübergehender Titel. Paramount Pictures und J.J.Abrams führen seit Mitte August 2007 eine virale Kampagne zu dem Film.

Handlung

Eine Gruppe junger Leute versucht eine Monsterattake auf New York City zu überleben. Dabei filmen sie die Geschehnisse mit einer Handkamera.

Darsteller

• Michael Stahl-David in der Hauptrolle als Rob Hawkins
• Odette Yustman als Beth McIntyre
• Mike Vogel als Robs Bruder Jason "J.J." Hawkins a.k.a. Hawk
• Lizzy Caplan als Marlena Diamond
• Greg Grunberg
• T. J. Miller als Hudson Platt
• Blake Lively
• Jessica Lucas als Lily Ford

Filmproduktion

In Februar 2007, Paramount Pictures genehmigte insgeheim das "Cloverfield" Projekt, das von der J.J.Abrams' Produktionsfirma Bad Robot Productions realisiert werden sollte. Die Idee, einen Monsterfilm zu drehen, besuchte J.J.Abrams während seiner Reise nach Japan. Er besuchte japanische Spielzeugläden mit seinem Sohn und bei der betrachtung von Godzilla-Modelle entschied er, einen originellen "amerikanischen" Monster zu erschaffen. Der Casting-prozess wurde ebenso geheimgehalten, die Kandidaten bekamen weder das Drehbuch, noch andere Informationen über den Film. Mit dem Budget von $30 Mio. begannen die Dreharbeiten im Sommer 2007 in New York.

Virale Marketingkampagne

As Transformers showed high tracking numbers before its release in July 2007, Paramount decided to release a teaser for "Cloverfield" before the film to build hype. The teaser footage is shot with a hand-held camera to emulate a home-movie style, and did not reveal the name of the film, but showed a release date of January 18 2008. The teaser was leaked onto YouTube by people who recorded it with camcorders, but Paramount invoked its copyright claim to have the links removed. Paramount eventually made the teaser trailer available to the public at Apple.com.

The studio kept knowledge of the project secret from the online community, a cited rarity due to the presence of scoopers that follow upcoming films. The controlled release of information of the film has been observed as a risky strategy, in which success could equate The Blair Witch Project (1999) or disappoint like Snakes on a Plane (2006), the latter of which had generated online hype but failed to attract large audiences. Chad Hartigan of Exhibitor Relations Co. viewed the several issues with the potential of the film: lack of major stars, the underwhelming performance of Godzilla-style films in America, and the film's slated release in January, considered a "dumping ground for bad films".

Plot speculation

Since the release of the teaser, the media has reported numerous possibilities about what the film would be about. USA Today reported the possibilities of the film being based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, a live-action adaptation of Voltron, a new film about Godzilla, or a spin-off of the TV show Lost. The Star Ledger also reported the possibility of the film being based on Lovecraft lore or Godzilla. The Guardian also reported the possibility of a Lost spin-off, while Time Out reported that the film was about an alien called The Parasite. IGN also backed the possibility of the same premise, with The Parasite also being the working title for the film. In chats, Slusho and Colossus have been discussed as possible titles. Entertainment Weekly also disputed reports that the film would be about a parasite or a colossal Asian robot such as Voltron.

Visitors of Ain't It Cool News have pointed out 9/11 allusions based on the destruction in New York City such as the decapitated Statue of Liberty. The film has also drawn alternate reality game enthusiasts that have followed other viral marketing campaigns like those set up for the TV series Lost, the video game Halo 2, and the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight. Members of the forums at argnet.com and unfiction.com have investigated the background of the film, with the "1-18-08" section at Unfiction generating over 7,700 posts in August 2007. The members have studied photographs on the film's official site, potentially related Myspace profiles, and the Comic-Con teaser poster for the film.

Viral websites

Puzzle websites containing Lovecraftian elements, such as Ethan Haas Was Right, were originally reported to be connected to the film. On July 9 2007, producer J. J. Abrams stated that, while a number of websites were being developed to market the film, the only official site that had been found was 1-18-08.com. At the site, a collection of time-coded photos are provided to visitors to piece together a series of events and interpret their meanings. In addition, Kirk Montgomery of Colorado's 9NEWS reported an inside source's claim that the website Slusho.jp "has lots of clues", though this has not been officially confirmed as a marketing campaign website. The Washington Post also reported, "Records showed that the Slusho Web site was registered before the trailer aired, indicating that the site almost had to be official."

Comic-Con

At Comic-Con in July 2007, Abrams was expected to announce the official title of the movie at the Paramount panel. Abrams however did not reveal an official title for the film and also denied that it would be called Monstrous, a rumored title at the time. He added that the marketing campaign would continue, in which a full trailer, clips, posters and the title would be released. The producer also reported that the film was still in production but filming was almost completed. Attendees of the Paramount panel were given T-shirts featuring the "Slusho!" logo.

External links

• 1-18-08 (Official website - requires Adobe Flash Player)
• Official trailer at Apple.com (QuickTime)
• Vorlage:Imdb title