It still amazes me that we’re actually getting a direct sequel to Cloverfield. One of the best sci-fi movies ever spawned an anthology franchise that has yielded some pretty spectacular results, especially in 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. As a huge fan of that film, and the series it originates from, learning that director Dan Trachtenberg and star Mary Elizabeth Winstead have talked about potential ideas for a follow-up has me pleasantly stunned. So why isn’t this movie happening immediately?
Part of that hypothetical holdup is undoubtedly the fact that Trachtenberg landed another successful sci-fi thriller thanks to 20th Century Studios’ Prey. The recent home entertainment release of the film, which is now available in 4K, Blu-ray and DVD is what brought us together to speak, adding another feather in this streaming original’s cap.
Predator franchise fans can enjoy that film with over two hours of all-new bonus features, including some insightful deleted scenes from Prey that should keep the film firmly in the minds of movie fans. Just like 10 Cloverfield Lane before it, there’s a pretty big sequel tease that begs to be followed up on in Prey’s ending.
So with that in mind, I asked Dan Trachtenberg if he’d ever talked up the possibilities of reuniting with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Michelle in her post-bunker life. Here’s what Trachtenberg shared with CinemaBlend as his response:
Not really. The sequel is to the original Cloverfield. But for our film, I would still totally be open to it. I think Mary would. … We talked a little bit in like ‘what if’ scenarios. And then I was pulled, all the filmmakers were sort of pulled into other things. But I would still consider it. There's a lot that would be in the genre that that would be in, but you never know. The sequel they're making is very cool.
Ok, so now I have two questions: why hasn’t a 10 Cloverfield Lane sequel been pitched directly to Paramount, and does Dan Trachtenberg have an inside line to the Cloverfield sequel’s development? Maybe he’s just talking about this concept in the broad strokes of the coolness involved with returning to this point on the Cloverfield timeline. Although having Trachtenberg call this new sequel “very cool” in that context does sound like he has more knowledge than he’s letting on.
I didn’t press too hard on that point, because if I was going to press my luck, it was going to be in another arena; namely, if the man of the hour could share with me some of those “what if” scenarios he talked out with Mary Elizabeth Winstead. With the ending of 10 Cloverfield Lane showing Michelle driving into the storm, so to speak, her determination to lend a hand during such monstrous times is so infectious that you want to see her succeed.
Which leads me to a lesson that we all learned on day one of the Cloverfield experience: secrecy is key. This is the franchise where director Matt Reeves signed on without a script, and where The Cloverfield Paradox’s Super Bowl surprise saw the movie debut with very little notice. Having said that, I’ll let you guess what Dan Trachtenberg had to say before you read his short and sweet remarks below:
I don't think I should, because who knows? You never know.
Dan Trachtenberg’s love for 10 Cloverfield Lane is still strong in his heart. If anything convinced me of that fact, it’s that he had a Movie Palette print of the entire movie hanging in the background during our interview. He repeated that feat with Prey, which is its own interesting story to tell. While I can share that anecdote with you, I can’t tell you anything about where the potential sequel to this sci-fi gem could lead. And you know something? As a Cloverfield fan, I’m perfectly fine with that.
Again, the unknown is part of the fun with this saga, and I just want to see it continue to surprise me and my fellow fans of Large Scale Aggressors. For now, we have some amazing memories to relive with 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is currently streaming for folks with a Paramount+ subscription. But also don’t forget to pick up Prey on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD through Amazon or whatever vendor you choose to enrich your physical media collection.
