Paramount surprised audiences by releasing a new trailer attached to Michael Bay‘s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. The trailer is for a movie that had yet to be officially titled, a new thriller from JJ Abrams‘ production company Bad Robot. The trailer is for a film titled 10 Cloverfield Lane. Did JJ Abrams and Bad Robot somehow secretly produce a sequel to Matt Reeves’ found footage sci-fi film Cloverfield?

10 Cloverfield Lane Trailer

After surprising moviegoers who saw 13 Hours with the new trailer on opening night, Paramount Pictures has released an official version of the trailer online. Watch the trailer above. I love the way they edited the music in this trailer — the film looks like it could be an intense contained thriller.

Is 10 Cloverfield Lane A Cloverfield Sequel?

Is the movie a sequel to the film Cloverfield? Everything I had previously heard about the project made me believe it was a truly original thriller in the vein of Misery, but with a possible sci-fi mystery box twist.

My gut tells me it isn’t a direct Cloverfield sequel, BUT it is very curious that producer JJ Abrams would release another unrelated film with “Cloverfield” in the title. And the surprise trailer debut in front of Bay’s 13 Hours mirrors the mysterious and now infamous attachment of a trailer on Bay’s 2007 film Transformers. The trailer featured just “Produced by J.J. Abrams” and the release date “1.18.08”.

Update: Producer JJ Abrams has issued a statement to Collider, saying the following:

“The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible.”

What does being “a blood relative of Cloverfield” mean? We don’t know.

Meanwhile, a member who participated in a test screening for Valencia confirms that 10 Cloverfield Lane is the same movie and says that the cut he saw was not a direct sequel to Cloverfield. So I’m assuming 10 Cloverfield Lane is more of a “cousin” than a “sequel.” I saw this tweet from Drew McWeeny and tend to agree with his assessment:

Just imagine this is a shot at creating Bad Robot's anthology banner. "If it says Cloverfield on it, you can expect twists and wild ideas." — DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) January 15, 2016

Our original story follows:

The Excitement Hits The Web

I first heard about the 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer when /Film reader Matt Cohen pinged me on twitter:

Did J.J. secretly make a sequel to CLOVERFIELD. Because that's sure what it seems like from the the trailer I just saw. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE. — Matt Cohen (@TheMattman) January 15, 2016

This tweet sent me on a search, and I came back with more tweets from other people from around the world who had just seen the mysterious trailer in front of 13 Hours:

I couldn't focus on the film after watching the 10 Cloverfield Lane Trailer…I need to watch it again @bad_robot — Star-Lord (@Max_vanDongen) January 15, 2016

10 cloverfield lane…. Acabo de ver el trailer, secuela de cloverfield? — Gerardo Sahagun (@GerardoSahagun) January 15, 2016

The #Cloverfied2/#10CloverfieldLane or whatever trailer premiered in front of 13 Hours and it looks LEGIT. @bad_robot you're the best 4 this — Adam Sirdoreus (@AdamJSirdoreus) January 15, 2016

So I saw a trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane. WHAT THE FUCK! had no idea Cloverfield had a sequel! Big surprise. So happy I didn't know ahead. — The Gor Awakens (@Goracus) January 15, 2016

Acabei de ver no cinema o trailer do que parece ser a continuação de Cloverfield. Isso já tava online? Com john goodman e tal? — Salem (@rodrigosalem) January 15, 2016

I think I just saw a CLOVERFIELD 2 trailer…what the fuck — Austin Gorski (@agorski04) January 15, 2016

Apparently there's a Cloverfield sequel that has gone unannounced until the previews for 13 hours. I'm so hyped right now. — Baylon Northup (@Southdown32) January 15, 2016

CLOVERFIELD FUCKING 2!?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?! HOLLLLYYYYYYY SHIT! HOLLLLLYYYYYY SHIT! FUCK YEAH — Jonny Martinez (@jonnymartinez09) January 15, 2016

The trailer is not yet online, but we’ll post it when its available. We also don’t have a full description of the trailer just yet, but I’ve heard its very mysterious.

Information About The Movie

After further evaluation, I have concluded that the trailer in front of 13 Hours is for the movie that was going under the working title Valencia. That’s right, the movie directed by our longtime friend Dan Trachtenberg. The film, which shot in New Orleans in late 2014, has been editing deep inside the mystery box of Bad Robot Productions, which had an extra shell of security due to a little film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

What we’ve heard previously, the original script made the rounds under the title “The Cellar” was written by by Josh Campbell and Matt Steucken. Damien Chazelle supposedly did an extensive rewrite, and as far as we know, the story follows a young woman who wakes up in a cellar after a severe car accident and fears she has been abducted.

“Her captor, a doomsday prepper, tells her he saved her life and that there has been a terrible chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable. She does not know what to believe and as tensions rise, she decides she must escape, regardless of the terrors that await outside.”

The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr. 10 Cloverfield Lane is set to hit theaters on March 11th 2016.

About Director Dan Trachtenberg

Trachtenberg has long been a friend here at /Film as I’ve frequented competed with him in the Totally Rad Show/Slashfilm Summer Box Office Wager and he has had many appearances on the /Filmcast. In May 2011, he released a horror short film “More Than You Can Chew” for Black Box TV which got him noticed around Hollywood. In August 2011, Trachtenberg released a spec short film called Portal: No Escape, based in the world of the video game Portal. It’s since generated almost 17 million views on YouTube and got him big Hollywood meetings.

Dan Trachtenberg’s Portal: No Escape

Dan Trachtenberg’s More Than You Can Chew

This is Trachtenberg’s first produced film, although he’s developing a time travel heist film titled Crime of the Century for Universal Pictures and screenwriter-turned-producer Chris Morgan (Wanted, Fast Five, 47 Ronin) with an original story co-written with screenwriter Daniel Kunka. Trachtenberg was previously attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Brian K Vaughn‘s Y: The Last Man, but New Line Cinema’s rights to the material lapsed before the project went into production.