The Cloverfield Paradox

At the end of October, a report (unsurprisingly) revealed what many fans had speculated: Bad Robot’s upcoming sci-fi thriller God Particle is actually the next installment in the Cloverfield series. That piece of news was largely unacknowledged by the studio until now, as a cute little release date change has seemingly confirmed that Julius Onah’s film is indeed part of the Cloverfield universe.

If anyone can keep a secret in Hollywood, it’s J.J. Abrams. His Bad Robot-produced Cloverfield was promoted with a sneaky viral marketing campaign in late 2007, and earlier this year the second film in the franchise remained a complete mystery until weeks before its release. Last week we learned the third Cloverfield film will reportedly be the Abrams-produced God Particle, but that film is so top secret that its lead actress had, and still has no idea about its connection to the Cloverfield universe.

J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield universe is quickly becoming one of the more interesting cinematic universes. Instead of stringing together a series of connected sequels and spinoffs à la the Marvel and DC cinematic universes, the 2008 found footage thriller has spawned something a little more ambiguous. This year saw the surprise release of Bad Robot’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was less a sequel to the 2008 movie and more of a blood relative. And now we finally have confirmation of what the third film in the Clover-verse will be.

The cast of God Particle is shaping up to be a great one, and if nothing else, the upcoming sci-fi thriller from Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams will have no shortage of talent. The latest additions to the stellar interstellar lineup include Chris O’Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, Aksel Hennie (who recently starred in another space-centric film — The Martian) and John Ortiz. Let’s just hope God Particle can live up to its ensemble.

For an actor, the tough thing about becoming famous for playing a single character for nearly a decade on a long-running TV show is that you eventually become identified with that persona, rather than as yourself. So, for instance, if you’re John Krasinski and have made a name for yourself by consistently portraying an aloof but lovable slacker with a penchant for breaking the fourth wall on a pop

J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot’s God Particle is picking up some steam, and following last year’s recruitment of newcomer Julius Onah to direct the long-developing sci-fi thriller, the project has found a pair of impressive actors. Selma’s David Oyelowo and Beyond the Lights star Gugu Mbatha-Raw will play the lead roles in God Particle, which will finally begin shooting sometime this year for a 2017 release.

When Roberto Orci exited the third Star Trek movie, star Simon Pegg stepped up to co-write the screenplay for director Justin Lin, working with veteran TV writer Doug Jung. It seems that Jung’s work on Star Trek Beyond has impressed the folks at Paramount and Bad Robot, as the studios have tapped him to rewrite the screenplay for a new, original sci-fi project titled God Particle.

Last week, the news broke that the ever-wonderful Cate Blanchett was close to joining director Mark Romanek's 'Cinderella' in the role of the evil stepmother, firmly establishing it as the Hollywood Revision Of A Classic Fairy Tale to watch out for. It still feels odd that the director of 'One Hour Photo' and 'Never Let Me Go' is making a Cinderella movie, but putting quality actors on the screen

J.J. Abrams is one busy guy in Hollywood. Not only is he hard at work on 'Star Trek 2,' but his production company, Bad Robot, is busy signing on other projects for the director/producer to look at. And they may have a new reason to go back into outer space.