There’s something poetic about a filmmaker circling back to where it all began. For Dan Trachtenberg, that starting point was 10 Cloverfield Lane, and now the director is openly entertaining the idea of stepping back into the strange, monster-laced world of Cloverfield.
With a new first-look deal at Paramount in place, the timing couldn’t be more interesting.
Trachtenberg made his feature debut with 10 Cloverfield Lane, the second installment in the Cloverfield franchise. The tense thriller, starring John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr., turned heads when it hit theaters, pulling in over $110 million worldwide and landing a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes after 319 reviews. Not bad for a movie that mostly unfolds inside a bunker.
Since then, Trachtenberg has been busy leveling up the Predator universe with Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers, and Predator: Badlands. But with Paramount holding the keys to Cloverfield, and Trachtenberg now officially in business with the studio again, fans have started connecting the dots.
In a recent interview with ScreenRant, the director addressed the idea of returning to the franchise. While he made it clear that he didn’t sign his Paramount deal specifically to make another Cloverfield movie, he didn’t shut the door either.
“It was almost like a, ‘Oh my God, wait,’ when we were talking about stuff, it came up, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, wait a second. I’ve done that. I could, maybe,’” Trachtenberg recalled.
“So maybe, and I certainly kept in touch with the folks at Bad Robot and J.J. [Abrams], and we’ve certainly discussed different things over the years, not Cloverfield related.”
Trachtenberg has stayed in touch with Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams, the creative force who launched the franchise. Even if their past conversations weren’t about Cloverfield, the relationship is there.
This isn’t the first time Trachtenberg has floated the idea. Back in 2023, he said he’d be open to revisiting the world of 10 Cloverfield Lane, and he and Mary Elizabeth Winstead have even talked about it.
For those who need a refresher, the Cloverfield franchise is built on a unique foundation. Each film stands mostly on its own, loosely connected through mysterious monsters and a shared sense that something much bigger is happening in the background. So far, we’ve gotten three films, with a fourth currently in development.
Would Trachtenberg return for that fourth entry, or carve out something entirely new within the universe? Right now, it sounds like nothing is locked in, but he is considering it.
After proving he can reinvent legacy franchises with Prey, the idea of him diving back into the paranoia and mystery of Cloverfield is kind of exciting.
For now, fans will have to wait. But knowing Trachtenberg “could, maybe” return makes the future of Cloverfield a lot more interesting.
