JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield info is scant, but rumors abound…

The movie websites and blogs are abuzz with talk of the “Cloverfield” trailer that is attached to Transformers. There is very little to no official information on this movie coming from Paramount or any other official source, but there is lots of speculation of the unofficial variety. Here’s what we know (or at least think we know):

• Produced by JJ Abrams
• Directed by Matt Reeves
• Written by Drew Goddard
• Release date of 1/18/08 (or maybe not…see below)
• Shot using handheld cameras (think The Blair Witch Project)
• The movie is code-named Cloverfield
• New York City appears to be getting blown to bits (reminiscent of Independence Day)
• There’s also something code-named “the parasite” (maybe the monster?)

There’s now an official website up – www.1-18-08.com. The website gives you no new info really. It’s just a photo of two faces looking up at something, maybe the monster, with a date stamp at the bottom right of the photo of 1/18/08. So does the movie actually come out on 1/18/08? Or is that just the date that the mayhem happens in the movie itself? Perhaps the movie will be released at a later date, like summer 2008. It sure does look like a big summer blockbuster.

There are also lots of theories about what the movie will be about. Some that I’ve read are:

• Godzilla – I’ve read that JJ Abrams is a big fan of Godzilla, but apparently the rights to Godzilla are owned by another company, and there is already a Godzilla project in the works.
• Voltron – This would make sense since the preview is being shown with Transformers, but it seems that a different company owns the rights to this movie as well.
• Lost – JJ Abrams is the producer of the TV series Lost, and season four of Lost will start just a couple of weeks after 1/18/08. The loud noise that accompanies the explosion also sounds an awful lot like the smoke monster in Lost. Could there be a Lost movie? I doubt it during the middle of the series, but who knows. Maybe it’s some sort of intricate promo for Lost.
• Remake of The Host – This was a Japanese monster movie that came out last year I think. Seems a little quick to be remaking that movie.

There is also no indication that principle photography has even started on this film, so it would seem difficult to release a big action movie within six months when production has barely started. Maybe 1/18/08 is when the next trailer will be released.

We know that JJ Abrams is very creative, and is very capable of stringing us long by revealing little bits of info (see Lost). I don’t think anyone knows what this will ultimately turn into, but it’ll be interesting to find out. Check out this slashfilm.com post for more info.