Mary Elizabeth Winstead

10 Cloverfield Lane hits theaters next week, which puts us at peak marketing for Bad Robot’s mysterious “blood relative” to Cloverfield. In addition to a pair of special IMAX TV spots featuring new footage, Paramount has also unveiled a handful of official photos from the upcoming horror / sci-fi thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman (and maybe also a monster?).

Although J.J. Abrams has repeatedly asserted that 10 Cloverfield Lane is not a direct sequel to Cloverfield, the two films do share some DNA, including the revival of Bad Robot's interactive viral marketing. This new IMAX poster not only indulges the studio's fondness for hidden clues and little easter eggs, but also features a very clever design.

The viral marketing for 10 Cloverfield Lane almost feels more persistent and pervasive than the marketing campaign for Cloverfield — though as many of you will remember, those promotional puzzles weren’t really related to Matt Reeves’ monster film, but that doesn’t exactly seem to be the case with 10 Cloverfield Lane. A new piece of viral marketing fun has arrived online, this time offering a text-based simulation game (think Oregon Trail, minus the images) that challenges users to stay alive in an underground bunker for as long as possible.

Just as they did with Cloverfield, Bad Robot has been toying with fans by releasing some very mysterious viral marketing for 10 Cloverfield Lane. In addition to some info about John Goodman’s character and the subliminal images hidden in trailers attached to Deadpool, now comes even more intel for you to puzzle over and dissect for the next couple of weeks.

Bad Robot unveiled a new trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane during last night’s midseason premiere of The Walking Dead, and although producer J.J. Abrams has said that the film is more of a “blood relative” than an actual sequel, the marketing isn’t doing anything to particularly dispel the whole sequel notion. Between the Cloverfield branding, the viral marketing and the mysterious monster-like sounds at the end of the trailer, this movie appears to be more and more of a sequel than Abrams would have us believe.

The Super Bowl commercials weren’t without some early surprises and who better to keep and deliver a secret than J.J. Abrams. Though it was widely reported that Paramount would use their Super Bowl ad time on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 trailer, it turns out that might’ve been a clever bit of misdirection. Right before kickoff, Paramount instead debuted a revealing new 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer, which gives some serious hints at its connection to the original Cloverfield.

J.J. Abrams is a fine filmmaker, but he might be an even better huckster. It wasn’t too long ago that Rolling Stone declared him to be “this generation’s P.T. Barnum,” praising the man’s unique talent for creating mystery around a project and generating buzz. He turned Star Wars: The Force Awakens into the can’t-miss cinematic event of a year that had already produced three of the ten highest-earning movies of all time. As the producer of Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield, Abrams took it upon himself to facilitate the creation of an ‘alternate-reality game’ that led determined fans to tantalizing new tidbits attached to the film. And it seems that now, Abrams is up to his old tricks.

J.J. Abrams pulled off some pretty effortless misdirection, keeping us all so occupied with Star Wars: The Force Awakens that we had no idea about this little indie project he was producing titled 10 Cloverfield Lane. The trailer arrived with no warning, followed by Abrams confirming that the film is indeed related to Cloverfield, though it’s not really a direct sequel. One of the stars of his new mystery project is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has opened up just a tiny bit about the secrecy surrounding the film and what we can expect when it hits theaters.

A&E’s Bates Motel checked into a bit of good news earlier today with a two-season renewal, though on the flipside of the coin, it seems as if The Returned remake will head back to the coffin after only one season.

In addition to the outstanding upcoming indie thriller Faults, Mary Elizabeth Winstead also appears in Alex of Venice, the directorial debut from Chris Messina (you cannot throw a rock in the indie world without hitting that guy). The first trailer for the new indie drama has arrived, in which Winstead plays a mother whose husband decides to take a break from his family, leaving her confused and adrift.