When you make $80 million on a $30 million investment in less than two weeks, it’s understandable that you want to go back for seconds. As the ‘Grab pointed out earlier today, Paramount is already talking about making Cloverfield II: Field of Dreams with Matt Reeves.
Here’s why this is an exceptionally bad idea. Reeves already mentioned that a sequel might could focus on different perspectives of the same attack on New York. There’s logic there. There are undoubtedly other people filming the event on cell-phones and digital cameras. The problem is that the audience already knows what the monster does in New York. They know where it goes up until the climactic bombing. New York is, literally and metaphorically, done. The movie does tease that the monster survives but a sequential sequel doesn’t seem smart either. Watching the monster head upstate and start scarfing bed and breakfasts along the Hudson doesn’t sound too thrilling (maybe a little). Paramount and Reeves should sit down, savour their success, and consider how to intelligently explore what has the potential to be a lasting franchise.
Our two cents? Cloverfield is excellent genre deconstruction so there’s only one place you go next with the genre: GIANT MONSTER FIGHT! Have it fight some enormous yeti that comes out of a melting polar glacier. Or have the Statue of Liberty come to life Ghostbusters 2 style and seek out revenge. Both good ideas.
