Cloverfield “Confirmed” as a Secret Prequel to Escape From New York by Matt Reeves (Exclusive)

One of the most memorable scenes in 2008’s Cloverfield is a scene in which the head of the Statue of Liberty is tossed through the streets of New York City by a giant monster, while an iconic element of John Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape from New York is how the poster similarly features the head of the statue. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves recently detailed that the poster for the Kurt Russell-starring film served as inspiration for his film, then joked that his film was secretly a prequel to the sci-fi film. Cloverfield will be landing on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in honor of its 15th anniversary.

In support of the upcoming release, ComicBook.com asked director Reeves about the connections between the films, with Reeves detailing, “No, it’s not a secret prequel, but it is related to it. That’s actually where the idea came from, because I think [producer] J.J. [Abrams] had that poster … Look, that’s a critical moment in the movie, because at first, the whole thing feels like a terrorist event, and so it’s got the grimness of that, and then when the head of the Statue of Liberty seems to have been pitched down the street, you know something else is happening. That’s when you realize you’re in the world of a giant monster and that’s this whole thing that pushes it to another level.”

After discussing the concept, though, Reeves went on to joke that this connection did seem more interesting and claimed that this was, in fact, the intention all along.

“I think J.J. had the idea, because he had that poster, ‘Well what if the head of the Statue of Liberty was thrown down the street?’ So it absolutely was inspired by Escape from New York, but it’s not a secret prequel or related to that,” Reeves detailed. “I like that meaning, though. You can say that. You know what? I’m gonna change my answer, now my answer is yes.”

Cloverfield takes a found-footage approach to telling a giant monster movie, as a creature has emerged from the waters to terrorize New York City. In Escape from New York, a dystopian America has converted the island of Manhattan into a maximum security outpost for criminals, with former soldier Snake Plissken (Russell) being tasked with rescuing the president of the United States from the island. This means that, narratively speaking, the two films have nothing in common with one another, outside the iconography of the head of the Statue of Liberty.

Cloverfield lands on 4K Ultra HD on January 17th.

What do you think of the filmmaker’s remarks? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!