Paramount Pictures has a new Cloverfield movie in active development, with Babak Anvari attached to direct the next installment of the popular franchise.
Joe Barton was earlier brought on board by J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures to pen the screenplay for the sequel. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions banner is producing the franchise sequel along with Hannah Minghella and Jon Cohen.
British-Iranian director Anvari followed up his debut feature Under the Shadow with Wounds, a psychological horror film starring Armie Hammer. The Abrams-produced horror hit Cloverfield was released in 2008 and launched filmmaker Matt Reeves on the path of genre auteur.
Reeves is involved in the sequel as an executive producer. The original Cloverfield movie was shot in the then-popular found footage style to reflect the growing ubiquity of video cameras.
It followed a group of 20-something New Yorkers as they try to navigate the city during an attack by a giant monster. The movie was made under-the-radar and used a viral marketing campaign to tease out interest.
The original Cloverfield movie, made for $25 million, earned an opening weekend of $40 million and went on to gross $172 million worldwide. The Cloverfield franchise spawned the 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox pics, released in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Bryan Burk and Drew Goddard will also executive produce the latest sequel. Deadline Hollywood was the first to reveal the new Cloverfield movie with Anvari to direct.
