Meet In The Lobby

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe. But when the hype has its own hype, that’s just a pain in the ass.

The latest case-in-point begins with the grandly overrated trailer for Cloverfield (a fake title… oooooh!), the new film from Lost creator J.J. Abrams, directed by TV helmer Matt Reeves. The trailer premiered before Transformers screenings and hit online July 4.

In it, a bunch of partygoing NYC 20-somethings witness the beginning of some sort of sci-fi attack on the city. The event is captured by a single personal video camera. At the end, no title, just a date: 1-18-08

The result? Joyous fawning begins. Early word oozes all over the online world, like The Blob pouring out into the streets after those frantic 1950s kids. Hell breaks loose:

1) Websites pose as the film’s “true” viral site — nearly all are fake. The most famous? One based on the license plate — ABZ3293 — of a vehicle that gets squashed in the trailer.

2) Websites report on the fake websites. And promote the real Cloverfield sites (that’s a good thing).

3) Online comments call J.J. Abrams “a f*king” genius.” Uh huh. While Lost fans pretend they’re not pissed off at being strung along…

4) Others contemplate a) the film’s offending attacker (monsters?); b) whether you ever really see said attacker; c) the movie’s name; and d) what makes Cloverfield so gosh-darn cool other than people wanting, hoping, and praying that it is.

This kind of groundswell is super powerful, and kudos go to Paramount for such skill, a full six months before the movie’s release. But at some point, this may all suffer the pendulum and the sub-cool will provide plenty of backlash. And if the movie doesn’t smack viewers around in ‘08, many will be disappointed.

Call it The Blair Witch Project effect. And pay homage to the similarities — a mysterious website, an unseen assailant, the use of personal video cameras. But with Cloverfield having so much more at its disposal — there wasn’t much in the way of YouTube in 1999 — the film has hype built on top of hype resting precariously on hype. And that can actually be good.

And, yeah, of course… this post may just add to it all.

GEEK NOTES: 1) Director Matt Reeves, whose only directorial credit is The Pallbearer, is credited with having written 64 episodes of Abrams’ TV series Felicity. And writer Drew Goddard has penned 6 episodes of Lost. 2) J.J. Abrams used to write crappy mush (my opinion): Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992). 3) There’s a very nice South African vineyard called Cloverfield. I’m just sayin’.

QUESTION:
What’s your opinion on the Cloverfield hype? What do you think of the trailer? TELL US

Other Posts of Interest

• What if Cloverfield Stinks?
• BOX OFFICE BATTLE: “Cloverfield” Creatures vs. “27 Dresses” Dames
• ALREADY?! Cloverfield Spoiler (But Not Here)
• BOX OFFICE UPDATE: Cloverfield Crushes Early
• Debate: Will INDIANA JONES Be #1 This Summer?

July 14th, 2007
Categories: Trailers, Science Fiction . Author: Norm Schrager

3 Comments

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail