What Is ‘Cloverfield Station’?

The Cloverfield universe began in 2008 with a found-footage monster movie, whose marketing campaign utilized various viral tactics that encouraged audiences to follow clues to get to the truth behind the events of the film. An upcoming third entry in the Cloverfield series, possibly titled “Cloverfield Station,” is tentatively debuting in April, despite audiences knowing little about it or where it will debut.

What we know for certain about the upcoming film is that it was directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel. The film stars Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Bruhl, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Chris O’Dowd, Ziyi Zhang and David Oyelowo.

Details about the plot have primarily been kept under wraps, but the film’s vague synopsis is as follows:

“A team of astronauts aboard an international space station find themselves alone after a scientific experiment involving a particle accelerator makes the Earth vanish. When a space shuttle appears, the space station crew must fight for survival following their horrible discovery.”

In 2016, a trailer for the film 10 Cloverfield Lane emerged, with its iconic title implying a direct connection to the 2008 monster movie. The film’s trailer debuted in January ahead of its March release, with little revealed in its entire marketing campaign. Many fans expected the film to be directly connected to the 2008 film, with the only similarities being the title, the sci-fi/thriller themes and an alien invasion.

The development of 10 Cloverfield Lane is integral to the understanding of the upcoming third Cloverfield film, as Cloverfield Lane was written as “The Cellar.” After J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot Productions got involved, some elements of the script were adapted to fit more in line with the tone of Cloverfield.

Similarly, Uziel’s script was originally written with the name “Shimmer Lake” before Bad Robot got involved, with the film then adopting the moniker “God Particle.”

Other than the Bad Robot connection and sci-fi premise, the title “God Particle” doesn’t fit in with the previous two films, with fans waiting for an announcement of a new title. A visual effects artist recently updated their status on LinkedIn to claim they worked on a project called “Cloverfield Station,” with outlets speculating that this could be a fitting title for the third film in the franchise.

Given the disjointed narratives, it’s tough to put the pieces together to explain how the unified Cloverfield universe works, but Uziel explained pretty clearly that the title represents a brand more than it represents a narrative.

“Other than knowing what kind of quality and feel you’re gonna get from something that’s coming out of Bad Robot and J.J.,” Uziel told Collider. “It just sort of helps to give an understanding of like, ‘Okay I understand what type of movie this is gonna be.’ As far as specifics, I don’t think there is one specific thread that makes it a Cloverfield movie, I guess.”

Much like the TV series Black Mirror and American Horror Story, audiences have shown recent interest in viewing a variety of stories under one singular name, with each of those stories being similar in tone.

Originally, God Particle was slated for release this past October, only to be bumped to this February, which was bumped again until April. Recent reports have claimed that Netflix might be interested in distributing the film, which could potentially avoid a theatrical release altogether or possibly debut on the streaming service before a limited theatrical run.

With the film not being given an official title, virtually anything is possible for this third chapter in the Cloverfield universe. Additionally, recent reports have confirmed that a fourth film in the series has already been completed, which is set to hit theaters on October 26.

Audiences are going to keep a close eye on this weekend’s Super Bowl, with the upcoming film possibly debuting a teaser, which would surely clarify its title and release date.