It's almost redundant to refer to a "secret upcoming J.J. Abrams project," because really, is there any other kind? But he still somehow manages to surprise every time he pulls another project out of his magic hat, and it looks like he's about to do that again this weekend. Hitfix reports that Abrams doesn't just have a top-secret new project called Super 8, but a teaser trailer for the film will be in front of Iron Man 2 this weekend.

Hitfix says the project, which hasn't actually started filming yet, is rumored to be a sequel of some sort to Cloverfield, though there's really no telling where he would go with the story. That tidbit suggests this might be the project 500 Rads that Pajiba reported on last fall, calling it a cheap film somewhat in the vein of Cloverfield and 28 Days Later. What we do know is that Abrams isn't directing it, just producing, and there's pretty much no chance we'll see this trailer leaked beforehand. Hitfix has a photo, which you can see below, of the letter that comes with the Iron Man 2 reels sent to theaters-- both the final reel, which includes the Easter Egg scene we've reported on already, and the trailers are in a locked container that can't be opened until Thursday night. That's a level of secrecy Abrams would certainly appreciate.

Even if we weren't technically supposed to hear about this trailer, it's a pretty brilliant move on the part of Paramount-- those of us who have burned out a little on the Iron Man 2 hype can now be excited about seeing the movie all over again. I doubt the trailer will run in front of my press screening of Iron Man 2 tonight, so we may have to send some CB operatives to a midnight Thursday screening to see what this is all about.


UPDATE! Vulture has more details on the nature of the project which they confirm is called Super 8. The say the trailer, "shows a bunch of kids who are shooting a movie with a Super 8 camera in the seventies or eighties. When they develop the film, they notice that there's an alien creature in the frame. Our sources also say that Super 8 is absolutely connected to 2008's Cloverfield."