1-18-08 Cloverfield Trailer Mystery, New J.J. Abrams Film

The mysterious 1-18-08 “Cloverfield” trailer, which was shown in theaters as a preview before Transformers, is now online at Apple. The film is being produced by J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost) and directed by Matt Reeves (Felicity).

For the last week, the internets have been busy trying to figure out just what the film was all about. They had been provided with clues on two websites, Ethan Haas Was Right and The truth of Ethan Haas. Could the mystery monster be a giant squid or maybe even the legendary Cthulhu? Godzilla it is not.

The film comes out, you guessed it, on 1-18-08. That’s only 6 more months of non-stop rumors and speculation. Hey, at least they are not talking about the iPhone.

UPDATE 1: JJ Abrams sent this message to Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News:

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can’t wait to talk to you more about it — of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you’ll know more than I will.

Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we’re doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn’t kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat’s about what’s online? So as you can imagine, we’re focusing mostly on THAT. For what it’s worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us.

Stay cool the rest of the summer — and thanks per usual for AICN!

JJ

UPDATE 2: Unfiction is on the case.

UPDATE 3: A person in the trailer is wearing a Slusho t-shirt and there is now corresponding Slusho website.

UPDATE 4: The film now has a name, “Monstrous”.

UPDATE 5: The 2nd Cloverfield trailer is now online.