Marketing for the mysterious fourth film in the Cloverfield franchise has taken an exciting new twist with its viral SLUSHO website re-animating.
Last fall, the popular sci-fi horror film was shrouded in secrecy as usual, announcing a new film, leading fans to speculate about director Babak Anvari’s Cloverfield project what method will be used. Possibilities include another standalone film or a true sequel to the 2008 original, which tells the story of a Godzilla-like monster attacking New York City, told in the style of Discovery’s footage. 10 Cloverfield Lane and Cloverfield Paradox are set in the Cloverfield universe (or Cloverfield). While loosely connected in terms of plot and reality, they were both written as separate projects that were later incorporated into the mythology. The original film was one of the first franchises to take full advantage of viral marketing before and after its release, creating an entire virtual world around the film.
As Slash Film noted, fans are eagerly anticipating J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot. The SLUSHO website sells a fictional drink made from nectar from the seabed in a variety of flavors, including Blueberry Zoom, Chocolate Rage, Banana Anime, and Strawberry Tasty, inviting users to create and mix flavors. The strange product was produced by Tagruato Mining, which fans will remember as Rob Hawkins’ new employer in Japan and the center of Cloverfield’s viral marketing ARG, which included tales that could cause creatures to emerge from the depths.
The site has been silent since the release of Matt Reeves’ original Cloverfield film, but has recently added new content suggesting a possible re-animation of this aspect of the Cloververse. While the other two films in the Cloverfield franchise in the interim have provided more context to the why and what of the first film’s plot, fans have been longing for a true sequel to the New York City attack. The re-animation of SLUSHO could mean that fans will have the chance to learn more about what happened in Manhattan and the fate of a monster fans affectionately dubbed “Clover,” named after the military effort, “Cloverfield,” and named Central Park.
As the marketing team for the new Cloverfield film has more options, it will be exciting to see how the film uses platforms like Twitter and TikTok that didn’t exist when the first film was released. But only time will tell if this new Cloverfield movie lives up to fans’ expectations.