The enigmatic shroud surrounding Cloverfield's menacing creature gets pulled back even further on the Blu-ray version of the movie, which roars into stores Tuesday.
Hard-core Cloverfield sleuths can gain special insight into the monster that trashed Manhattan thanks to the disc's Special Investigation Mode, an optional in-film feature that provides tidbits of trivia about the creature's physical characteristics and location throughout the movie. Additionally, a map tracks the locations of main characters, military personnel and the "large-scale aggressor" that made the movie a box office beast.
The Blu-ray release includes all the extras from the previous two-disc DVD release: slightly tweaked alternative endings and meaty featurettes (including behind-the-scenes video diaries, explorations into the CGI world of New York under attack and the mechanics of cobbling together the megamonster that wreaks havoc throughout the film).
Wired.com nabbed Cloverfield director Matt Reeves (pictured above, right, with actor T.J. Miller) for a brief telephone chat about the rumors swirling about Cloverfield 2 and straying from sci-fi for his next project, The Invisible Woman.
Wired: There's been a lot of back and forth about whether or not a Cloverfield sequel is in the works. Can you set the record straight for us?
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Matt Reeves: __I can say that we really hope we could do it. It's in a pre-baby stage. Right now, it's still like in the single-cell version of itself. It's not a viable life form yet. But the truth of the matter is, we're not 100 percent that we're going to do it. I have a couple of ideas, Drew [Goddard, a Lost alum who penned the first Cloverfield script] has a couple of ideas, but we just finished this one, and we haven't had the time to evaluate what's next. __ __
This isn't me being evasive, but it's literally just too early to tell. We promised ourselves that we would have to come up with something just as fresh and fun, 'cause you don't want to repeat the experience. We don't want to be repetitive. It's an unusual problem, but a cool one, to see what would come out of it.__
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Wired: Does that mean the monster is definitely alive? That seemed to be hinted at in the muffled radio static after the credits.
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Reeves:__ If there's a continuation like a sequel, then one would think there's something still going on. Whether it's that monster or not, I don’t know. We know the film would need a fresh perspective, and
I don't think that means just picking up where we left off. But I can't even confirm anything in that direction.
__Wired: __You're killing us, Matt!
__Reeves: __[Laughs] I know. I'm sorry. This is like my pre-Cloverfied interviews where I couldn’t give anything else away, except there just isn't anything to give away this time. But I know that J.J. [Abrams], Drew and I really want to work together again, and hopefully it'll be Cloverfield 2, and if not, then something else cool. And I'll keep you in the loop.
__Wired: __The movie recently debuted in Japan. How did that go over, considering the film's roots in the ultimate creature feature, Gojira, or Godzilla?
Reeves:__ __It was No. 1 in Japan for the first two weekends -- it created a big stir, which was very exciting. We didn't know how the audience there would respond to the viral marketing, and it went over very, very well. The culture is so different -- everyone is so kind and polite -- that it was hard to get a real feeling for it, but at the screening the audience went crazy. I'd actually never been to Japan, so it was really cool to have Cloverfield bring me there.
__Wired: __What's different about the Blu-ray release?
__Reeves: __Even though we shot the whole movie on a Handycam, it was actually shot in HD. I'm excited for people to see [the monster] in its full, pristine environment. I need to get a copy of the DVD too! I'm anxious to see it in Blu-Ray.
__Wired: What can you tell us about The Invisible Woman, the new film that you're writing and directing?
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Reeves: Well, it's not science fiction at all. It's in the vein of a Hitchcockian thriller about a very suburban New Jersey mom who drops her kids off at soccer practice but is leading a double life as a criminal. The genesis of that project is that I came across a bunch of news stories like this, about suburban bank robbers who didn't fit the traditional model of a criminal or a drug addict. And I got into the idea of these suburban families with their backs so far up against a wall, they have this crazy, unbelievable secret. And in Woman, nobody knowns [the main character] is so desperate to make ends meet and keep her family together that she turns to a life of crime.
Wired: On IMDB it looks as though J.J. Abrams' production house, Bad Robot, is working on the film. Does that mean we can expect another viral web -- and possibly more Slusho puzzle pieces and references?
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Reeves: __J.J. is one of the producers, but we're not necessarily doing it through Bad Robot, but J.J. is definitely involved. My guess would be the film won't have the same [marketing tactic], that same approach as Cloverfield. We are hoping to be shooting this fall and it would come out next year. We've just begun the casting process.
*Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures *
See also:
- Cloverfield Extras Roar to Life on DVD, Online
- Review: Cloverfield Chills With Major Monster
- Cloverfield Manga Offers More Cryptic Clues
- Infected by Cloverfield's Viral Marketing
- Lengthy Cloverfield Sneak Peek With Abrams Intro Hits the Web
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*Underwire 2.0: Jenna Wortham's Del.icio.us feeds; The Underwire on Twitter and *Facebook.
