Ever since its first official trailer premiered to the surprise of many moviegoers who attended theatrical screenings of Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, fans of the Cloverfield franchise have been wondering exactly how the upcoming 10 Cloverfield Lane will tie into the Cloverfield film from 2008. With J.J. Abrams returning to produce this new Cloverfield movie, plus first-time director Dan Trachtenberg attached, the new feature film has already seen the release of several subsequent TV spots, all of which have only served to heighten the mystery and suspense surrounding this latest Abrams production.
As if the eery tone already established in the footage released thus far weren’t enough, potential moviegoers have also been teased with by a viral marketing campaign that will allow the viewer to begin to unravel the mystery surrounding 10 Cloverfield Lane (the movie and the eponymous address alike). What’s more, the next batch of content from said campaign has just arrived.
As part of the 10 Cloverfield Lane viral marketing push, the website FunAndPrettyThings - “created” by Howard Stambler (John Goodman) in 10 Cloverfield Lane - has gone live online and it’s a final missive from a desperate father eagerly hoping to connect with his estranged daughter, in order to provide her with all of the knowledge and tools that she will need to live in an underground bunker after civilization collapses. The website functions like an old-school, text-based survival simulator or adventure title, with elements vaguely synonymous to the basic gameplay mechanics and narrative structure of The Oregon Trail series of PC games from the 1970s.
By the looks of things, the marketing campaign for 10 Cloverfield Lane should provide those enthusiasts willing to explore the plethora of content already provided by Abrams and company plenty of clues to comb over - in a search for answers surrounding the movie’s central mystery. Unlike the viral marketing campaign for Cloverfield, which largely served as a red herring in regards to the explicit content of the movie proper, the new content being released ahead of Trachtenberg’s directorial debut appears to provide some further insight into the mind of one the film’s chief characters.
Even if it is finally revealed when 10 Cloverfield Lane hit theaters next month that Goodman is a mere altruistic madmen with no actual daughter of his own, the text-based survival game is a welcome bit of franchise ephemera - especially for those who miss classic text-based simulators - to dive into in the meantime.
10 Cloverfield Lane will see theatrical release in the U.S. on March 11th, 2016.
Source: FunAndPrettyThings.com [via /Film]
