In January, J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot released a surprise teaser trailer for a film called 10 Cloverfield Lane. The movie was the quasi-sequel to the 2008 sci-fi film, Cloverfield, and Abrams hinted that it wasn’t going to be the last movie in the Cloverfield universe.
The Wrap is now reporting that Bad Robot’s next movie being produced by Abrams, God Particle, is the third movie in the Cloverfield franchise. According to The Wrap’s “insider familiar with the project,” Abrams and studio partner Paramount Pictures want to develop and release a new Cloverfield movie every year for the foreseeable future. Based on the report, it appears the Abrams and his team are focused on creating a new cinematic universe based on the one thing connecting each film: aliens.
God Particle follows a group of astronauts who are left fighting for their survival after making a shocking discovery in an alternate universe. Much like 10 Cloverfield Lane, which starred top acting talent like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr., God Particle will reportedly bring in David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl and Chris O’Dowd.
In February, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that he and his team at Bad Robot had ideas for a third movie that they would like to explore, but wasn’t sure if they would get a chance to do it.
“There is something else that we'd like to do and hopefully we'll get that shot,” Abrams said.
Abrams, who also helmed last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is used to working on top-secret productions and has been known to just drop announcements unexpectedly in the past. Back in 2007, Abrams surprised fans with a trailer for the first Cloverfield, which had been developed in secret. The teaser played before Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie and film fans were left scrambling to figure out what the trailer was for. Abrams took a similar approach with 10 Cloverfield Lane and it looks like fans of the franchise can expect something similar with God Particle.
Polygon has reached out to both Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot for comment. The film is reportedly set to open Feb. 24, 2017.