Will Cloverfield Be The Next Snakes On A Plane?

Ok, so tonight I’m finally getting to see Cloverfield at a special screening at Paramount. I’m hoping it’ll be solid… as a matter of fact I’m expecting it to be solid. Anytime you tell me “there’s a movie about a giant monster wrecking a city”, you’ll get my attention, because like the 6 year old child that I am, those movies appeal to me.

However… what I’m not so sure of… is how well this film will do at the box office. Let’s face it, as I mentioned before, the marketing campaign for this film was lackluster at best and did nothing for me in terms of building my excitement for the film. Some will say to me: “BUT JOHN, EVERYONE IS BUZZING ABOUT THIS MOVIE. IT’LL MAKE TONS OF MONEY”. To which I must reply: “No they’re not. The INTERNET movie community is buzzing, but I haven’t heard anyone else yacking about it at all”.

It leaves me wondering if we’re going to see another “Snakes on a Plane” or “Grindhouse” situation, where EVERYONE in the online movie community talks and buzzes about it, but it failed to appeal to the broader audience. And while it’s great to get the online community in the theaters… it’s not enough on its own. You have to also have broader appeal, and I’m not convinced Cloverfield accomplished that at all.

Cloverfield will make money. After all, it’s reported that they only spent about $30 million to make it, so I can’t imagine it won’t at least turn a profit (even Snakes eventually turned up a bit of profit because it was so cheap to make), but will this film be a legitimate $100 million dollar hit? I honestly don’t know due to the fact that it feels so much like the “Snakes” and “Grindhouse” situations.

As for the movie itself, watch for my review later tonight/early tomorrow.

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46 thoughts on “Will Cloverfield Be The Next Snakes On A Plane?

  1. I actually found it quite enjoyable. Although there is some tweeks that could be adjusted, the ending for example I found could have been extended a little more.

    It was like an EFNY type of ruins. For those who are fan’s of John Carpenter’s Escape from NY.

    I like those sort of movies. If you’re into Monsters attacking the city, and documentary type movies, then I reccomend seeing it.

    Just a thought.

  2. i saw cloverfield last night.

    it was horrible.
    yes im only 16 yrs old but i love sci-fi movies like this.

    trust me, waste of money

    i went with 6 people
    and 5 out of 6 of these people
    including me, got sick because of motion sickness

    the way it was filmed, like the guy holding the camera and the camera moving everywhere got everyone sick

    supposingly around 30 people at the showing we went to got a refund and left

    including us.

    it was upsetting. and not enjoyable.
    i really recommend not seeing it.
    waste of time, money and food just eaten.

  3. LOST certainly found itself again (pun totally intended) in season 3 which in my opinion was the best season yet…..it is definitely the best drama on t.v.

    I cannot believe it gets compared to heroes….heroes isn;t fit to be mentioned in the same breathe as lost. lost is so superior on every single there is just no comparison to be made….lost has much better acting, more compelling characters, a much more interesting idea shaping and better storytelling. lost just lays waste to everything around it….go and watch the last 5 episodes of season 3……and then compare that to anything on heroes oir any show on t.v. there is no comparison.

    in short…its fucking amazing.

  4. I just wanted to say to whoever who is dissing Lost; Lost rules. It is the best drama on tv right now and possibly the best sci-fi show since twin peaks. I had posted a huge comment about this but I just realized that somehow it has magically disappeared from these comments.

  5. BTW, showing the monster in ads or whatnot goes against this film’s core. And I’d bet my left nut some studio marketing dickweed made them put the gay ass portrait of the monster at the end of the movie. The shot where the monster basically looks into the camera and says “cheese.” Because up until that point, all we see is legs and crazy shit, and only hear its roar and see the damage it causes – so you’re left saying, “What in the fucksticks was THAT?” That’s the long way of saying I disagree with Kristina and Joseph.

    Also, by way of puking at the handheld camera action, the studio rep at the theater advised all the press to sit at the very back, because he said if you get motion sick, you won’t like this flick. It was herky jerky, but it was good and I didn’t puke. The crowd loved this movie and the theater was packed tighter than fudge in San Francisco.

  6. I just got back from a press screening of Cloverfield in Salt Lake City, Utah and I have to admit, I loved every minute of this movie. I’d say it was fucking fabulous, except the one of the last shots of the monster was GAY.

    I loved how I got to know the characters by a watching them interact, by overhearing gossip, etc. I enjoyed the comic relief. It was short and sweet, tense and fun. It’s a summer popcorn flick in the middle of January.

    When I review movies I ask myself two questions after all is said and done: Would I buy it on DVD and would I see it again in theaters. I say yes to both. I don’t give a shit what the “hype” is or how much it makes over the weekend. It is a quality, creative, fun film.

  7. I think Alfie’s right John in that you kind of have a habit of playing favorites-

    And I get what you mean John, about how me saying that you should post negative stuff about movies before they’re out isn’t contributing to the discussion at all. Well, John, my point is that you’re doing the exact same thing just on a larger scale. You’re posting about how this film is overhyped and shouldn’t be getting attention, how is that contributing to a real discussion about the film or the industry as a whole?

    It’s not.

  8. The only thing i hope won’t happen is if they barely/don’t show the monster. If they’re like “Ahh it’s after me, run, run..” but they don’t show what’s after them. But so far what they’ve done with the statue of liberty is pretty creepy, and the concept art I’ve seen is pretty good. Now we wait.

  9. [url=http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/exclusive-star-trek-teaser-description]A description of the upcoming Star Trek XI teaser has been posted.[url]

    Trek Movie has confirmed its accuracy and I expect this Friday when it debuts with Cloverfield that many die hard Trek fans will be firing their “Canon”‘s on JJ ABrams.

  10. @Nayana

    Maybe she puked because she’d eaten some raw, nasty food ealier. Or she’s preggers. Or sick. Just sayin’, a monster movie gnarly enough to enduce vomiting? Believe it when I see it.

  11. john everyone can overstate their feelings in the heat of debate….come on…i mean have you actually listened to your own show???

    but “for the most part” i will always be on the side of the creative people sure…..

    I will always prefer to see the directors cut over the studio sanctioned audience tested version…whether or not it is better is not the point i know that I would rather see a directors final vision than i would a version comprised of a bunch of execs notes.but then again you don;t believe in an artists vision. you have snidely dismissed that phrase time and time again.

    and I am not the only one to have noticed your slightly negative slane towards the writers guild. I am not accusing you of being anti wga…… but again I am not the onyl person who reads this site who has noticed it. whther you mean for it to be there or whether

    I am not an apologist or a paid member. I have read both arguments and i happen tI cannot see anything unreasonable that the writers want.

    you always go on about those who take the risk deserve top reap the rewards. nothing the wga are asking for is going to tip the balance. the studios will always take home the bigger piece of the pie. always.

    maybe i would be more sympathetic to them if they didn’t have such a long reputation for ripping people off. why do you think people started asking for first dollar gross points? because for the years the studios have blantantly ripped off the artists.

    ask the writer of forrest gump how he feels….he asked about whether or not he was going to see any money from his profit shares and the studio claim to this day that forrest gump never made any money.

    read art buchwalds book about his court case over comign to america…..another film they claim didn’t make any money…

    if they are changing their ways now that is great…i hope they are but you seem to live in some world where the studio heads are all above board and just want what is best for everyone and thats is shit. they are greedy and will do anything to screw people out of a dollar.

  12. @Tarmac

    Its got one thing SoaP NEVER had, a giant mother fucking monster giving New York city the biggest ass reaming of the century.

    oh, and its got Rob and come on, he’s like, your main dude.

  13. I am going to estimate that Cloverfield does well, around 30-40 million best case scenario. And word of mouth spreads it.

    I’m in high school, and around campus it’s a pretty big deal.

  14. I think the overall marketing is bigger (and better) than Snakes on a Plane and Grindhouse, plus you have a DEAD weekend, and the fact that this movie had it’s announcement teaser in front of a movie practically EVERYONE saw. So, I can’t say that I have any expectations for FINACIAL failure.

  15. Hey Alfie,

    You said:

    “its like your articles on the writers strike …you will always say ” i am not blaming any one party..they are both to blame etc etc they are both as bad” and then the post will invariably be way more negative towards the writers than the studios.”

    You’d pretty much have to be a WGA apologist on their pay role to say that with a straight face. But the WGA worshipers have adopted a “If you’re not for us, you’re against us” mentality, so if you dare point out anything the WGA is doing wrong, they lable you as pro AMPTP.

    You’re also the same guy who once said: “In any arguement between the creative and the business people, I’ll always side with the creative”. That pretty much sums up people’s attitudes towards the strike. To hell with facts, and who is actually right or wrong on each individual issue… I support the writers!

    They are both wrong. Apologize for the WGA all you want, but it’s true.

  16. I heard that a lady actually threw up halfway through Cloverfield at a preview screening here in the Twin Cities last night.

    I’ve got high hopes for this movie, but I’m definitely willing to take all the hype with a grain of salt.

  17. I’m the only person in my group of friends who pays any attention to interenet movie stuff and all of my friends who enjoy going to movies are planning to see this this weekend.

    John, you’re playing both sides. You were all “I’m not interested in it” “they’ve given me nothing” (other than last years most electric trailer at a huge smash hit movie that nearly everyone saw) and now you claim that all you need to know is that a monster attacks a city and you’re interested. I’ve been confused and bothered by what has come off to me as a disingenuous advance dismissal of this film. You’ve been beating the “This film will suck and be lame” drum for the last week harder than just about anyone with out seeing anything.

  18. It’ll be number one this weekend simply by default, but I’ve been saying for a while that this thing was the next SoaP. It depends on a lot, but I think for the general audience, if they don’t get a good look at what the damn monster is after all the hype, people will be miffed. I don’t trust JJ Abrams after he turned Lost into an overly complicated clusterfuck.

  19. Bah. I don’t think this film will do well. Possibly worse than Snakes on a Plane, it had more hype than this and at least some people knew about it in the real world, it also had an A-list star. This film doesn’t have anything close to that.

  20. I hope it does not turn out like Snakes on a Plane & Grindhouse though went those two were out in theaters they did not catch my attention enough to go out and see them. Cloverfield on the otherhand did catch my attention once I saw the teaser trailer. I’m a BIG Godzilla fan and seeing it was a Giant Monster attacking New York City and then the possibility of “mini monsters” as well I was all for it. Eventhough the advertisment was internet base the fact that the tv spots that are shown alot in my area I think the mystery of them might catch other peoples attention.

  21. theres alot of hype among everyone at my school. i think it will make a ton of profit, excpecially considering the small budget it cost, and i think there adverstising was small budget too, im not sure but if it was they got a lot of bang for their buck.

  22. we should talk about the film sure but you have run an article on reasons to not get excited about it and now one about how it might be an overhyped disaster…..i can see where brendan is coming from. i don’t know how you really feel but it comes across weird.

    we get it…you don’t like the marketing strategy for cloverfield.

    but for a 30 million dollar film the marketing has been perfect because most of it has been cheap…..all the online buzz that took off after that first teaser was free…all the viral stuff is certainly a lot cheaper than superbowl ads and full pages magazine poster ads and t.v commercials etc etc

    i know you hope this is going to great..you always say disclaimers like that before running a negagtive piece..”oh i hope this will be great i am sure it is but is it the next big over hyped turkey?”

    its like your articles on the writers strike …you will always say ” i am not blaming any one party..they are both to blame etc etc they are both as bad” and then the post will invariably be way more negative towards the writers than the studios.

    as for cloverfield at least it is getting released…

    how about a post called “reasons not to get excited about pathology”
    reason number 1…the studio have pulled it from release so not only do they not want critics to see it they don;t want anyone to see it.

    sorry john i know they are your friends and all and this is coming from a crank fan but studios don’t shelve great films.

  23. John,

    Please post a quick review (even if you don’t have time for a full one). I’m concerned that there are no critic reviews. Not that I base my movies solely on critics, but it’s a sign that maybe it’s not a strong movie (regardless of the spin that they don’t want to ruin the surprises). I’ll be interested if you can give it a quick no, go or routh.

  24. I demand you stay up tonight and write your review sir!…I kid, I kid. I am however looking forward to seeing your review of this movie. Part of me wants you to enjoy it and not puke all over the back of the person in front of you if you have motion sickness! The other part hopes that it truly is all just hype and a lame movie with a horrid shakey cam.

  25. Relax guys……it’s just entertainment! I saw it last night at a screening & it was quite the roller coaster ride. Many will leave the theater whining ” ugh Blair Witch Monster” Viewers think “old school” breakin’ stuff monster flick! I haven’t had this much fun in ages. More than the overhyped and childish Transformers.

  26. I think this movie will do well enough to make back its money on the opening weekend. I predict $32 million opening weekend and 95 million gross (which, considering the budget would be more then enough for a sequel and would also be the biggest January opening in a long time).

    I think this movie will show hollywood that you don’t need to have $300 million budgets to turn out a good movie with some cool effects.

  27. Hey Brendan,

    So what you’re saying is… we should never talk about a movie until t comes out? That’s silly.

    People are talking about Cloverfield, so I bring up points that obviously people want to talk about. Sorry if you don’t… just move on to the next post dude.

    But I raise a legitimate question about how it will do. If you don’t want to participate in this specific discussion, then move on to the next. You just saying “you shouldn’t talk about this” doesn’t add anything to the conversation.

  28. Jesus Christ John, what the hell is up with you and this movie??

    This is your second post just commenting on the HYPE concerning Cloverfield, leave the thing alone until it comes out- There’s been A LOT more movies more overhyped than this- I don’t know why you’re choosing this one to be so nitpicky about.

    It’s a marketing choice to advertise and hype it up in this way, what the heck are you so hung up on it?

    Seriously, since when did themovieblog.com become the site to go to for all the correct movie marketing opinions?

  29. I think the biggest problem is the fact they didn’t show the monster. They have built up expectations so high there is no way it will be able to deliver.

    As a teaser at the beginning of Transformers it was fantastic, but to keep it going all this time might have been a mistake. I have seen a few TV spots over the last 10 days or so but I believe it’s too little too late.

    It’s a good thing they have a bunch of unknowns it in other wise it would never turn a profit.

  30. CLOVERFIELD did only cost 30 Million?
    Wow, I didn’t know that. I thought it was a big budget blockbuster disguised as a low-budget flick.
    The effects and the action can’t be that impressive then.

    What I really liked about the CLOVERFIELD marketing so far is the whole concept of not showing the monster. It just makes me sick how much trailers reveal of the films nowadays, leaving nothing for the audience to be surprised about. CLOVERFIELD is a nice counter-balance to that.

    As for Harry Knowles liking it, well sadly that doesn’t say anything.
    He lost his edge and likes almost everything nowadays. He liked VAN HELSING and THE MUMMY RETURNS. So there goes you’re blockbuster-reviewing credibility, Harry!

  31. What Grindhouse and Snakes never attained was the only constant force of box office power in this universe – ‘word of mouth’.

    If the movie is as great as Harry Knowles thinks it is, and the public get to hear about it, either from all the critics or their own friends, then of course it will be a hit. All it takes are six little words:

    “You have to see this thing”

  32. I work with about 50 sales dudes, they are all buzzing about Cloverfield and most of them know jack squat about the Internet movie scene, much less how to send and receive an email without calling tech support. The buzz is out there.

    I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk, but you would probably have to get out from behind a monitor in a significant way to see it goes beyond the net.

  33. i agree to a point…..the original trailer they showed durin transformers got me pumped cuz it was a great teaser…..then all the rumors, the only rumor that got me excited was the godzilla one…..come on a good lookin US godzilla it cant be!!!

    then i found out the whole movie was gonna be shot in the handheld style….and i got a lil worried. now i kinda want to see it…kinda dont…

    the fact that i have no idea what this flick is about besides the monster i havent seen yet……i kinda dont care anymore, ill prolly wait for the review

  34. I get that same feeling. I’m the only movie geek within my group of friends and they haven’t even heard of this film, even though I’ve sat through a couple commercials with them, they have no interest in it.

    That would suck, if this movie bombs too, like Grindhouse and Snakes, esp. since those last two movies were well reviewed and early word on Cloverfield is that it’s pretty good, as well.

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