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Paramount finally reveals "Cloverfield"

While unleashing "Transformers" onscreen this week, Paramount also lifted the lid on a top-secret project in the form of a teaser trailer for a new film, Cloverfield.

Yesterday the full details were finally revealed about this top secret project, which include casting and news that a huge viral marketing campaign is underway. Read on for the details :-

"Cloverfield," which revolves around a monster attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people, is being produced by J.J. Abrams. It is being directed by Matt Reeves, who co-created "Felicity" with Abrams, and is written by Drew Goddard, who has worked with Abrams on "Lost" and "Alias."

Paramount greenlighted the project under a veil of heavy secrecy in February, about the same time that Abrams agreed to the take over the directing reins of the new "Star Trek" film.

The casting process was just as mysterious. No scripts or even scene pages were sent out; agents who were contacted were simply asked if their client wanted to be in the movie or not. Eventually a cast, made up mostly of relative unknowns, was put together; it includes Michael Stahl-David ("The Black Donnellys"), Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel ("Supercross") and Lizzy Kaplan ("The Class").

The movie, which is believed to have a relatively modest budget of about $30 million, began shooting in mid-June in New York. With "Transformers" generating huge tracking numbers in the weeks before its release, the studio decided to put footage from "Cloverfield" in a teaser in front of "Transformers" to build buzz.

After first presenting the Paramount and Bad Robot logos -- Bad Robot being Abrams' shingle -- the trailer opens with scenes from a surprise going-away party in a New York bar with a view of the city. Before long, a thundering roar is heard, and by the time guests run downstairs, pandemonium and flaming debris are hitting the streets. After a huge explosion at the lower end of Manhattan, what appears to be the head of the Statue of Liberty comes hurtling up the street like a giant projectile.

The trailer's footage is shot by a hand-held camera, home-movie style, giving it a sort of "Armageddon" meets "The Blair Witch Project" feel, though it is not clear if the entire movie follows that style. While the trailer does not reveal the name of the movie, it does announce a release date of January 18.

Several copies of the trailer, seemingly shot in theaters with a camcorder, were posted on YouTube by Thursday morning. But by Thursday afternoon, some links had been taken down, replaced by an advisory saying, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Paramount Pictures Corp."

Producing the movie along with Abrams is Bryan Burk, who has worked on such Abrams shows as "Lost," "Six Degrees" and "What About Brian." Guy Riedel and Sherryl Clark are executive producing.

"Cloverfield" is shooting in New York.



Warner Bros Japan bringing new horror-fantasy movie

NTV web and Warner Bros. Japan are joining forces to produce and distribute Shinigami no Seido (literal translation: Accuracy of the God of Death), a horror/fantasy starring Takeshi Kaneshiro.

It has been reported that Kaneshiro plays a Grim Reaper who appears to his victims in human form and spends a week with them before deciding whether to off them or not.

The pic is Kaneshiro's first to be shot in Japan since the Sci-Fi pic "Returners" in 2002. Manani Konishi co-stars as one of Kaneshiro's potential victims, while Masaya Kakehi is helming.

NTV and Warner are both members of the pic's production consortium, while Warner will release the pic in Japan in the spring of 2008. The number of theaters has not yet been decided, but a Warner's rep said that the release "will be fairly large."

The pic is based on an eponymous novel by Kotaro Isaka -- the writer's fifth to be made for the big screen.

NTV and Warner also linked to produce and distrib last year's hit "Death Note" duology. The two pics also featured "gods of death" who use special notebooks to deal death simply by writing the victim's name inside. The drama begins when humans find the notebooks -- and use their new-found power of life-and-death to dubious ends.

NTV is producing a spin-off based on the character of "L," a reclusive genius detective who investigates the identities of the Death Note owners, with Kenichi Matsuyama reprising his role as L and Hideo Nakata ("The Ring 2," "Kaidan") helming.

Principal photography is scheduled to start in August, while Warner plans to release the pic in Japan in the first half of 2008.



Disney's new foray into horror with "First Ascent"

Screenwriter-turned-comic book publisher Andrew Cosby and Johanna Stokes have been hired to do a rewrite on Walt Disney Pictures' First Ascent.

The film is described as a supernatural action adventure that revolves around a group of climbers who, while attempting to ascend a mountain in Bhutan, are attacked by an unseen beast.

Jason Reed, Brigham Taylor and Casey Wolfe are overseeing the project for Disney. Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida features a roller coaster ride, "Expedition Everest," that includes an encounter with a yeti, though Disney said that "Ascent" is a rewrite of an older project and is not related to the ride.



(References - bloody-disgusting.com, hollywoodreporter.com, variety.com, myspace.com, aintitcool.com)