“Something’s Coming.”
In typical J. J. Abrams fashion, Paramount and his Bad Robot team decided to unexpectedly drop a teaser trailer for their new film 10 Cloverfield Lane in front of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Luckily, the studios did not make it mandatory for audiences to watch 13 Hours in order to see the trailer and you can watch it below.
So, where the heck did this trailer come from and why didn’t anybody know this movie was in development? Collider.com has this statement from J.J. Abrams:
“The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible.”
Very sneaky J.J. Very, very sneaky.
Yes a few other television spots have been released for the movie since this teaser, but this particular trailer still gives audiences the most to maul over. With only one month left until 10 Cloverfield Lane hits theaters, its ever so cryptic trailer only gives us so much time to obsess over what it all exactly means. Read below to find out the ten things you may have missed in the trailer that has us scratching our heads with excitement.
10 Yup, This Is Definitely A Cloverfield Movie
Why it made the list Before you say, “no duh Cloverfield is in the title” allow us to elaborate. Even if you did not know the film’s title, the shot above gives itself away as a movie set in the Cloverfield universe.
On a surface level the scene introduces the 10 Cloverfield Lane’s three leads (and as far as IMDB is concerned, the only three characters we’ll be watching throughout the movie), but if one compares it to Cloverfield’s original teaser, they see that the two trailers are structured the same way despite the two films having different technical approaches (Cloverfield is shot like a documentary, this film is shot in traditional third person). Just like Cloverfield’s original teaser, this trailer starts off with characters doing fairly mundane activities, but then everything soon dissipates into the characters running away from a bunch of mysterious stuff.
Yes, the two films have different technical approaches, but this trailer is showing signs of the same anxiety and mystery that made us fall in love with Cloverfield in the first place.
On a surface level the scene introduces the 10 Cloverfield Lane’s three leads (and as far as IMDB is concerned, the only three characters we’ll be watching throughout the movie), but if one compares it to Cloverfield’s original teaser, they see that the two trailers are structured the same way despite the two films having different technical approaches (Cloverfield is shot like a documentary, this film is shot in traditional third person). Just like Cloverfield’s original teaser, this trailer starts off with characters doing fairly mundane activities, but then everything soon dissipates into the characters running away from a bunch of mysterious stuff.
Yes, the two films have different technical approaches, but this trailer is showing signs of the same anxiety and mystery that made us fall in love with Cloverfield in the first place.
9 What Is Up With The Number 550?
Why it made the list Okay folks, so this is where things get really fun. Starting approximately at the trailer’s 0:20 mark, a puzzle with 550 pieces is shown. This number is prominently noticeable five other times in the teaser. It could all be coincidence that the number is often visible, but because we’re the internet and we’re awesome, we refuse to believe that this number is left to chance.
So what the heck is the significance of 550? Considering that 10 Cloverfield Lane is part of the apocalyptic/disaster genre, we’re going to guess that the number hints at the movie’s remaining population. But population of what?
Humans or giant monsters?
So what the heck is the significance of 550? Considering that 10 Cloverfield Lane is part of the apocalyptic/disaster genre, we’re going to guess that the number hints at the movie’s remaining population. But population of what?
Humans or giant monsters?
8 The Eiffel Tower Makes Us Think Of Another Monument
Why it made the list Perhaps the biggest takeaways from the trailer audiences have been mulling over are the recurring images of the Eiffel tower.
Sites such as Reddit and Inverse are convinced that a quote from the tower’s architect, Gustave Eiffel, has symbolic resonance with IMDB’s plot description of the film (the site says “a young woman finds herself in the basement of a man who says he's saved her life from a chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable”). Gustave Eiffel’s quote is as follows:
Sites such as Reddit and Inverse are convinced that a quote from the tower’s architect, Gustave Eiffel, has symbolic resonance with IMDB’s plot description of the film (the site says “a young woman finds herself in the basement of a man who says he's saved her life from a chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable”). Gustave Eiffel’s quote is as follows:
“Not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France’s gratitude.”The connection being made between the quote and the movie is that the Eiffel tower is symbolic of the scientific persistence that created the deadly chemical attack in question. Although that theory seems quite valid, we also have a few ideas of our own.
7 We'll Always Have Paris
Why it made the list Remember This? If there is one image anyone remembers from Cloverfield, it is the bonkers image of the Statue of Liberty’s head rolling down the streets of New York. So what would be the logical next step for Cloverfield’s successor? Destroy another world famous landmark of course (remember all those photoshopped fan pictures of different monuments in ruin after the movie was released?).
Whether or not we actually see the tower being demolished is another question entirely, but all of the Eiffel tower decor does raise theories regarding John Goodman’s character.
If we are to assume that the bunker in the film is Goodman’s, why does the dude decorate it with so much Eiffel tower memorabilia? (Please let Goodman have a French accent) Perhaps it means something to Goodman’s character’s past that the film will reveal, but if we are going by the film’s plot we feel that it is possible the Eiffel tower will play a part in the relationship between his and Winstead’s character. The assumption being that he explains to her character that he decorates the bunker as a symbol of remembrance to what was lost in the film’s cataclysmic event (much like the Statue of Liberty).
This all brings us to our main question: will Goodman’s Eiffel tower furnishings be a farce to convince Winstead’s character not to leave the bunker or is he telling the truth?
Another theory can be made that the Eiffel tower is a clue about 10 Cloverfield Lane’s location being set in France, but we’ll stick to our proposed idea because the clues below make us believe it takes place in New York.
Whether or not we actually see the tower being demolished is another question entirely, but all of the Eiffel tower decor does raise theories regarding John Goodman’s character.
If we are to assume that the bunker in the film is Goodman’s, why does the dude decorate it with so much Eiffel tower memorabilia? (Please let Goodman have a French accent) Perhaps it means something to Goodman’s character’s past that the film will reveal, but if we are going by the film’s plot we feel that it is possible the Eiffel tower will play a part in the relationship between his and Winstead’s character. The assumption being that he explains to her character that he decorates the bunker as a symbol of remembrance to what was lost in the film’s cataclysmic event (much like the Statue of Liberty).
This all brings us to our main question: will Goodman’s Eiffel tower furnishings be a farce to convince Winstead’s character not to leave the bunker or is he telling the truth?
Another theory can be made that the Eiffel tower is a clue about 10 Cloverfield Lane’s location being set in France, but we’ll stick to our proposed idea because the clues below make us believe it takes place in New York.
6 A Man And His Hat
Why it made the list Seeing as it looks like majority of this film will take place in a bunker, the setting could really be anywhere. But at this point you know the drill, we made some more amazing discoveries that will blow your mind and completely change your life.
The first find is the hat that John Gallagher Jr.’s character wears throughout the entire trailer. If you look closely, you will see that his hat reads, “East Marion”. East Marion is actually an area in Suffolk County, New York.
This hat may only be pertinent to Gallagher’s character, but we believe that it hints at the film’s location because we also have this picture from the trailer:
The first find is the hat that John Gallagher Jr.’s character wears throughout the entire trailer. If you look closely, you will see that his hat reads, “East Marion”. East Marion is actually an area in Suffolk County, New York.
This hat may only be pertinent to Gallagher’s character, but we believe that it hints at the film’s location because we also have this picture from the trailer:
5 Fluffernutters
Why it made the list Mind. Blown. Marshmallow + Peanut Butter + Bread = Cloverfield. Are you guys putting it all together yet? (Come on guys, these are classic Cloverfield clues) Joking aside, what this shot in the trailer shows is Goodman and Winstead’s character making fluffernutter sandwiches.
Created in Massachusetts, the fluffernutter is a sandwich that is predominately popular in the East Coast (How many Californians do you see eating these?). Although one could say the sandwiches (damn you fluffernutters) argue that the movie takes place in Massachusetts, we’re still going to bank on the film taking place in New York.
So yeah, we just cracked one of the trailer’s biggest questions with fluffernutters and hats.
Created in Massachusetts, the fluffernutter is a sandwich that is predominately popular in the East Coast (How many Californians do you see eating these?). Although one could say the sandwiches (damn you fluffernutters) argue that the movie takes place in Massachusetts, we’re still going to bank on the film taking place in New York.
So yeah, we just cracked one of the trailer’s biggest questions with fluffernutters and hats.
4 An iPhone 6
Why it made the list A big question a lot of us have is whether this film is a sequel or prequel to Cloverfield (we only know so far that it’s being called a “blood relative”). Although the trailer does not explicitly reference the film’s timeframe, the trailer (either consciously or unconsciously) left a giant monster of a clue (sorry, the joke had to be made at some point):
A FREAKING IPHONE 6, PEOPLE!
If one recalls, the first Cloverfield takes place in 2008 (how can anyone forget 01-18-08) when the iPhone 6 did not exist. Yet, in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s teaser, we see Mary Elizabeth Winstead taking a picture (or updating her status) with an iPhone 6. So it is with the amazing evolution of cellular technology that we assume this film takes place after Cloverfield. But the iPhone 6 does not exactly confirm this film as Cloverfield’s direct sequel.
In fact, there are other clues in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s trailer that has us believing that…
A FREAKING IPHONE 6, PEOPLE!
If one recalls, the first Cloverfield takes place in 2008 (how can anyone forget 01-18-08) when the iPhone 6 did not exist. Yet, in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s teaser, we see Mary Elizabeth Winstead taking a picture (or updating her status) with an iPhone 6. So it is with the amazing evolution of cellular technology that we assume this film takes place after Cloverfield. But the iPhone 6 does not exactly confirm this film as Cloverfield’s direct sequel.
In fact, there are other clues in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s trailer that has us believing that…
3 It Is Neither A Sequel Or A Prequel
Why it made the list Omg. Green Screens. Everywhere.
Besides the question of why Apple would continue making iPhones after the catastrophic events of Cloverfield, there are other moments in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s trailer that disprove the direct sequel (prequel) notion.
Firstly, if we are to understand that the film’s plot revolves around Winstead’s character being found after a car crash and it takes place after Cloverfield, then it is possible that she has been in a coma for years. Yet all of Winstead’s actions in the trailer are not conducive of a woman who has been asleep for years, rather that of a person who seems suspicious of very recent events.
Firstly, if we are to understand that the film’s plot revolves around Winstead’s character being found after a car crash and it takes place after Cloverfield, then it is possible that she has been in a coma for years. Yet all of Winstead’s actions in the trailer are not conducive of a woman who has been asleep for years, rather that of a person who seems suspicious of very recent events.
2 Barrels Of Fun
Why it made the list Oh yeah, let’s not forget the shot of our characters standing around a hazardous barrel. It could be perfectly possible that Goodman’s character is keeping one of the parasites from Cloverfield inside and that ends up being the threat everyone is running away from in the trailer. But that threat would contradict the theme film’s tagline suggests, “Monsters Come In Many Forms”.
What we’re betting our money on is that this barrel contains a new threat (or monster) that is entirely different from Cloverfield. Perhaps the barrel is another device Goodman’s character uses to trick the other two characters into staying in the bunker.
What we’re betting our money on is that this barrel contains a new threat (or monster) that is entirely different from Cloverfield. Perhaps the barrel is another device Goodman’s character uses to trick the other two characters into staying in the bunker.
1 Cloverfield As An Anthology
Why it made the list So what that amounts to is that we believe 10 Cloverfield Lane is the second entry in an anthology series. It is looking like Cloverfield is a brand that explores stories with similar traits: Smaller character stories set against a larger threat that affects all of New York.
The possibilities for such an anthology series are boundless and that has us beyond stoked.
The possibilities for such an anthology series are boundless and that has us beyond stoked.
Although there is so much mystery in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s trailer that we want answered now, we can only currently confirm that it looks awesome and that at least we will not have to debate for five months whether some guy yelled, “I saw it, it’s a lion it’s huge!”or “I saw it, it’s alive it’s huge!” Until then, we’ll be enjoying our puzzles and fluffernutters.
Do you have any answers to the mysteries in 10 Cloverfield Lane’s trailer? Did you find anything that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
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3 thoughts on “Top 10 Things That You May Have Missed In the 10 Cloverfield Lane Trailer That Has Us Stoked”
Welcome my friend, Helper Cat says you need to register for that! :)
Sick. Awesome article! Can’t wait to see the movie and read more of your work!
What havoc has taken place on earth? What will the camcorder or that iPhone6 expose? It’s the government it’s always the man creating this mess. Great article thanks for the insights, can’t wait for more.
Can’t wait to see it after reading your take on this movie!