When the trailer for the new movie 10 Cloverfield Lane was released, it was impossible not to imagine it was a sequel to 2008's Cloverfield. Why else use that title? Well, the film’s producer J.J. Abrams has something to say about that. “It’s not Cloverfield 2,” he said.


Speaking to Fandango, Abrams did his best to clear up this common misconception. “This movie is very purposefully not called Cloverfield 2, because it’s not Cloverfield 2,” Abrams explained. “The association is clear and there are multiple connections—and there is a bigger idea at play for us with these movies and this connection.”

Don’t believe him? There’s more.

The story of this movie—and it came to us originally as a spec that was very different in a lot of ways and an unrelated thing altogether—is definitely about different kinds of monsters. And while the Cloverfield monster isn’t in this movie, there’s a new monster and there’s something else that happens, but I don’t want to ruin the ending.


“The Cloverfield monster isn’t in this movie.” That’s worth reiterating. Whether these other monsters that Abrams mentions are literal, like in the first movie, or something more symbolic, we’ll have to wait and see.

So will we ever see a real Cloverfield 2, complete with that crazy monster? Abrams said while there had been lots of talk about making a second Cloverfield movie after the first film’s release, he and the filmmakers could never quite get the right idea. And now, with much bigger movies like Godzilla and Pacific Rim out there, he feels it’s probably past its time. But he doesn’t rule out other movies with “Cloverfield” in the title.

“A larger franchise or anthology would suggest multiple movies, and we’re just focusing on this, which is the second of two,” Abrams told Fandango. “But I will say that there is something larger at play that if we’re lucky enough to get to do I think could result in something pretty cool.”

[Fandango]

Contact the author at germain@io9.com .