A Surprise 'Cloverfield' Sequel Is Coming Out Soon

The possibility of a Cloverfield sequel has been so far outside the realm of expectation that I'm sure many fans of the 2008 movie had essentially given up any hope that it would actually happen. The most chatter about making a sequel to the film happened around the film's release, but, as recently as 2011, with director Matt Reeves claiming Cloverfield 2 wouldn't happen. Then, on Friday, a trailer for the Cloverfield sequel was released on the Internet, despite that fact that, um, no one knew that the movie was even filming. Even better? The movie already has a release date — and it's incredibly soon. This is no teaser. This is a declaration that Hollywood made a movie, and none of us knew about it.

According to J.J. Abrams in an interview with Collider on Thursday, the same day as surprised moviegoers caught the trailer in theaters leading into their viewing of Paramount's 13 Hours, “The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible.” And, indeed, the trailer makes it clear right away that this isn't exactly in the same vein as Cloverfield. Instead of the found footage style of the first movie, this one seems to be traditionally filmed, and set in an underground bunker in which Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. are hiding out. After an argument, Winstead tries desperately to flee from Goodman out of the bunker, who screams after her that opening the door will get them all killed.

What Winstead sees outside isn't revealed in the trailer, which cuts to black before revealing the title of the film, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and the release date of March 11, 2016. According to Winstead, who also spoke to Collider, the film stars her character, who wakes up in that shelter where she's being kept by Goodman. "He tells me that basically the world is over outside because there’s been a nuclear fall-out. It does have similarity to Faults, in some ways, because you don’t know who’s telling the truth or who to believe." Has there really been a nuclear fallout? Has the monster returned? What exactly is going on? Don't expect the trailer to answer these questions; you'll have to watch it for yourself.

One thing's for sure: J.J. Abrams totally pulled a fast one on us. Filming an entire movie project without the world finding out until the trailer is released that the movie is in the works takes a lot of skill and secrecy, and I'd watch the trailer just for the mastery of this moment alone. Check out the trailer below.

Image: ParamountPictures/YouTube (2)