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January 18, 2008
23:21
Am I missing something?
» ‎ 01-18-08

I just saw the film for a second time and plan to go again tomorrow (yeah, I pretty much loved it), but there's something that's been bothering me that many people are adamant is in the film.

Spoilers in LJ Cut below

In the final scene of the film at Coney Island, a lot of people have said you can see something falling into the ocean in the upper right corner that could be the monster. I didn't notice it last night, so today I kept watching the corner to catch it, but during the scene I didn't actually see anything, unless you count cigarette burns. I don't know if any screencaps have been leaked, but I'm really starting to doubt either my eyesight (perhaps it's time for some new glasses?) or the validity of these comments. Anyone here actually seen it?

I'd also heard that the logo for the Dharma Initiative can be seen somewhere in the film, with some saying it's on the monster itself. Anyone have information about this?
22:15
011808 @ 2008-01-18T23:08:00
» ‎ 01-18-08

I was wondering if anyone saw something fall out of the sky at the end when the camera flashed to Rob and Beth on the ferris wheel? I didn't, but a friend of a friend (I know how unofficial that can make this sound) did.

Anyway, did anyone else notice something of the sort?
22:11
011808 @ 2008-01-18T21:50:00
» ‎ 01-18-08

ok, so tagruato is "down for maintenance," tidowave is "locked down," and for all we know rob just logged into myspace for the last time.

is the ARG over?

21:23
Hunter’s Movie Review: Cloverfield
» ‎ /Film
Before I begin, let me say that I am not one who hyperbolizes my thoughts on movies that I like and dislike. I prefer to lurk and watch other people do that. For months, I have purposely avoided the viral marketing for Cloverfield because I didn’t want the campaign to interfere with the actual movie experience. Obviously, after I linked up with /Film this month I tuned in a little bit more, but until last week I had kept my exposure limited to the Transformers trailer.

Way back in July, I admired the trailer’s anonymity and decided to abide by the filmmakers’ rather effective less-you-know mantra…until today.

In short: Cloverfield is a modern classic. There is no doubt!

The rest of this review contains spoilers, continue after the jump.

As a 20something, I believe this filmâ€¦scratch that, this friggin’ monster movie from J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves has defined the first decade of the Oughts in a way that no war movie or film like Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center will surpass. Our current times have been declared by much of the American press to be the Age of Anxiety, and Cloverfield nails that label to the wall. The subconscious fears we all have deep down are served up here with relentless, dizzying verve. Imagine if Jaws pulled you down not once, but countless times and your friends too. Anticipating the worst has never been so exhaustively captivating and Cloverfield depicts the worst nightmares of an entire generation perfectly.

This is a film for the people who went to college after years of hearing about how great it would be, filled with dreams of a peaceful pass-Go future, only to watch 9/11 occur soon after their arrival via dozens of televisions in a university center, surrounded by other stunned, young adults just like themselves. The sheer proportion of the attacks that day, the surreal way it interrupted another day of classes on live television, and the destruction of the impossible, was too much to comprehend, perhaps even now. It was like something inexplicably larger than us was saying not to get too comfortable, and it wasn’t religion. Cloverfield matches the vague source of uber-doom we witnessed that day with an equally massive physical manifestation, and not only does it work, it works like an exorcism.

Cloverfield’s first 20 minutes revel in setting up its five main human characters. And to counter a few criticisms arising online, I don’t think we’re supposed to identify with them before the monster rampages, so much as observe them with a little annoyance, a little jealously, and a dash of commonality. This is the cream of the crop as far as privileged, extremely attractive New York yuppie hipsters go. Matt Reeves has said in interviews that he purposely chose to focus on this demographic, and it’s easy to see why. Besides a little heart ache, what do these characters have to worry about? Only by shaking them, literally, from the loft party where they dance to Coconut Records, flirt and mope will they discover how volatile and messed up life can be. There’s no blame here, and the movie’s not a diatribe against such people in real life, but the filmmakers definitely have fun exploiting it from the start.

I’m sure a few of you have already read movie critics ripping the film’s handicam eye as a one-note novelty and other critics who have labeled the result a “mess.” But unlike its distant cousin The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield uses this creative decision to say something about how we absorb information today via our senses and new media, and the anxiety that this hodgepodge of 30-second clips, fuzzy footage and bad lighting is starting to bring out. The old horror genre staple of the unknown is present here, but what makes the film so intense is watching these little captivating slivers of monster and destruction data fill in like a downloading torrent file. Once you’re reassured that Cloverfield doesn’t skimp on the monster and destruction, the film’s deft fragmentation of sight and sound is a legitimately scary thing to experience.

Sure the film is quite meta-, but the filmmakers know exactly how to wind us up in this untraditional vision like a cocoon. Reeves and Abrams, these guys are like the ideal audience members. Maybe you knew that, but I wasn’t so sure heading in. One of my favorite scenes takes place inside a store that’s being looted. Our camera operator and affable navigator, Hud, focuses his video camera and attention on two television screens broadcasting news footage of the monster attacking. But he breaks away to look outside the store where the same thing is happening. We’re overloaded with experiencing this monster’s terror and the film makes us ask ourselves: would we rather watch panic-personified clearly, or experience it as reality? Why did we come to this movie, to study the monster or to have it make us feel impossibly small? When your brain already has one foot in the grave, you’re happy when Hud decides for you.

And Hud’s instincts allow us to view what’s happening from the ground level, bird’s eye and countless other innovative angles that terrify in a way that Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds did not. We’re constantly comparing the mayhem we see done to Manhattan to what’s happened before it in reality, and the latter shockingly doesn’t compare. Moreover, not only does it feel like we’re in the pack with these people running around New York City, but the handicam effect creates a sense of loneliness and existential dread that cities are notorious for. This isn’t filmed like it’s the work of a makeshift TV news crew or like a low budget documentary. Cloverfield is filtered through the weird detachment that only a personal video cam can pick up. And my editor, Peter, mentioned the Oscar-worthy sound in his Cloverfield review; you haven’t been rocked this hard since a T. Rex roared in the summer of’93. Two girls sitting two rows in front of me got up to leave and as one blurted out, “This is too much.” I swear I think the sound alone caused them to exit, but maybe the helicopter scene finally did them in. To me, that only reaffirmed how cool and alarming this film is.

What about the arguments that go “where’s the humanity”? I love how the main characters go about dealing with their friends’ deaths, because at first these violent demises don’t sink in. That’s unusually realistic for an event movie like this. It bothered me at first, though, because I considered how I’d react if my brother or friend was killed after a monster pwnd the Brooklyn Bridge. Would I just give in and sob? Would I go crazy? But then, Rob is shown taking the call with his mom, and the emotions and loss all hit home, for the audience and the characters. These characters aren’t screaming B-movie proto dumbasses, their emotions creep up on them at odd times, and this that might or might not reflect a generation that’s a little desensitized to their surroundings and reality; that is, until the filmmakers decide to emotionally shatter all of the characters and thereby launch Cloverfield into the stratosphere as the best disaster movie of all time.

The oddest complaint I’ve seen about the film thus far takes issue with the characters’ logic when they go back for Beth. That’s strange, I don’t recall anyone arguing about this decision when it was made by Llewelyn Moss in No Country for Old Men. I’m not comparing the two films or the circumstances, even though both of the films’ antagonists are timely manifestations of the same unstoppable hell.

And besides, to me at least, Cloverfield should be seen as a sort of psychological Manhattan dream labyrinth with terror exploding around every corner. Those nightmares we all dream with the lavish dream budgets in which everything goes wrong? You know, the nightmares that have plagued minds during the last seven years especially, as our world sort of went wrong? Look no further for a movie to capture them and present them to you. If ever there was a movie to see in the theater and not on a smaller screen, it’s Cloverfield. And beware the critics who say this a mindless fluke that “signifies nothing”; that’s not what they’ll tell their psycho analysts.

Godzilla, you got punked.

10/10 â€“ I’m both shocked and thrilled. What else could this movie do right?
Related Stories:
21:22
Where Do Cloverfield Monsters Come From?
» ‎ /Film
If you haven’t seen Cloverfield, than read no further as we’re about to enter spoiler territory.

Where did the Cloverfield Monster come from? Japan? The ocean near an offshore drilling site (as hinted by the viral)? Not so according to director Matt Reeves, who supposedly told Film School Rejects that an easter egg within the film tells of the Monster’s origins. Apparently in the background of the footage that HUD had taped over, when Rob and Beth were at Coney Island, “something suspicious” drops into the water.

While I very much believe this subtle easter egg is probably in the film’s final cut, I just don’t buy the reasoning. Beth and Rob’s trip to Coney Island took place in late April, but the monster waited a full month until late May to destroy New York City? Doesn’t sound too logical, especially considering the whole Tagruato viral storyline which was to set up the monster’s origins. But I could be missing something.
Related Stories:

20:40
011808 @ 2008-01-18T18:07:00
» ‎ 01-18-08

The two latest official site images are pretty intense... what do you think is happening in the first one? Or maybe, more importantly, where and when is it?

After seeing the movie, my friends and I are convinced that they are working up to a sequel (possibly franchise)- especially after the backwards message at the end of the credits.

20:20
Review Numero Uno (Sensitive to your Spoiler Needs)
» ‎ Project Cloverfield

Hey all. Yooka is back. I return to give you two things; an unbiased review from a literary/cinematic perspective, and my impressions on a more personal level. Expect a helluva lot of reading. However, I will not be offended if you skim. :)

I was fortunate enough to work at a place that lets off early thanks to the good Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. That is why I saw the movie during the day, and am able to get this review out to you super early. As the title suggests, I will clearly label when the spoilers are a-comin’!!!

I was also thoughtful enough to go with friends, and to have a bit of good ole’ Irish whiskey in me during the film. So that even if the odds and ends I picked up accidently from the commercials and the internet proved true, at least the evening wouldn’t be totally ruined for me. For all you young, budding alcoholics out there, I cannot emphasize enough how much I recommend flasks for a truly wonderful theater experience. However, since the buzz is still with me, I also much apologize for any extraneous rambling, or careless spelling or grammatical errors. Also, the spellchecker is giving me an XML error. Stupid spellchecker.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Jordan for keeping up with the site during my exodus. From what little I’ve read, you’ve experienced first hand why I left. I hope no one spoiled it too bad for you. I also want to compliment you on being “teh lil’ hotness”.

K. On to the movie. No, no spoilers just yet. I’ll tell you when.

The first half hour or so was exactly what the beginning of the first trailer let on. It was a well-done camcorder collage of a love affair. The great thing about this stile of filmmaking is that it doesn’t demand very much of the actors, and I think that shows through. The party, and all the Rob & Beth “lubbie dubbie” stuff feels real enough because, basically, they are just being themselves. It gets the job done, much like the opening minutes of Blair Witch. I recommend those who haven’t yet seen it to allow themselves to put themselves in their shoes from the get go. Get personally involved, mentally immerse yourself in the high school-ish drama, and imagine that you are in their place. Pretend you are that male or female (whicever floats your boat more). You’ll get more out of the movie, and little curveballs that the director will throw at you will be more effective down the road.

Oh, I feel ashamed that I haven’t said it yet… but you simply must see this in theaters. It’s a good movie, but out of theaters, it loses most of the effect, (again) much like Blair Witch.

Alright, from this point forward…. Here Be Spoilars!!! Aaaargh!!

————————————–

Maybe it’s because I practically memorized the first trailer, but I was stilll surprised by the first signs of the monster. Much of what is in that trailer never made it to the final cut. I believe that to be a smart decision from the filmmaker. I found myself looking at the lady liberty’s head before I knew what was happening. And to the credit of the director, you stray far from the initial trailer with over an hour left in the film.

You find that the characters have more than enough opportunity to leave New York City, but because Rob gets a call from Beth, they work there way back into (the new) “Ground Zero”. Think about that from a writer’s perspective for a second. You have a catastrophe. And realistically, Godzilla can only take out so many people. Humans - even in NYC - have a tendency to evacuate. The Cloverfield Monster does not kill all New Yorkers. Far from it.

The filmmakers also do a great job of acknowledging that New York City has a subterrainian landscape unlike all but a handful of cities in the world. It’s quite possible that there are thousands of tunnels that stretch miles in all directions under Manhattan Island, as we’ve been tunneling here since the 1800’s, and basically never stopped. The monster, somehow, has a plan of attack here too, as the “parasite” rumors come to fruition in the subway tunnels under Manhattan. Long story short: Everyone gets away from the big monster, and his spider-like offspring. But it turns out the spiders have a vampire/zombie/Sigourney-Weaver’s-Alien’s-like trait to their bites… and a cast member dies horribly because of it. Honestly, I didn’t see this coming. This also gives a good reason as to why the monster targets NYC - plenty of fresh hosts for it’s babies.

At this point, we are suprisingly low on cast members. We are rewarded for turning back (and away from safety) as miraculously, we do find Beth. In trying to find safety afterwards, we lose everyone but Rob and Beth, though the do compensate us by great shots of the monster. Great. Shots. Thankfully, I was not spoofed, the monster did not look like The Iron Giant. It looked good. If you want more detail, you’ll have to see the film, because I’m not sayin’ any more. :)

The ending is good, in that it follows logically from what has already happened. It is also somewhat ambigious. In this wat, it reminds me of the Matrix sequels, and I won’t be suprised if it disappoints people. The final outcome of the monster is not immediately known after all is said and done. A round of carpet bombing succeeds in aggravating the monster, but hours later (after daybreak), it is still shown that the nation is taking extremely aggressive measures. Also, the survival of Rob and Beth is also unknown, as they take adequete shelter for the camera to survive, but they leave room to believe that they may or may not have made it.

In closing, let me say two last things. First, about the ending. Some will probably say that they flash of light was a large bomb to annhiliate the beast. That is true, but I highly doubt it was The Bomb. And if it was, they didn’t do their homework. The flash is large, but it is orange, not white. All accounts of atomic bombs involve white light. I don’t know if Rob and Beth lived through everything, but I know for sure that they weren’t obliterated in a Hiroshima like shock-wave.

Secondly, and less to do with plot interpretation, I want to say that this was a movie that was totally up my alley, and I hope many others can say that too. I am a child of the camcorder generation. If you were to rob my parent’s house, you (hopefully) wouldn’t find any lewd sex tapes, but you would find mortifying recordings in the form of a six-year-old Yooka in his E.T. footsie zip-up pajamas, whacking himself in the head with his trusty cardboard base from a used roll of paper towels, eagerly counting the seconds till Christmas by the “thonk-thonk-thonk” sound he made with it. I was a weird kid, and every foible is caught on tape. So yeah, I can never run for president. :)

I relate, and inject myself in personal, unpolished, home-video recordings. It was half of the reason Blair Witch hit me so hard. Psychologists also say it’s the reason why “reality” TV shows do so well in the US, despite the fact that most of them are God-awful. However, Cloverfield is far from God awful. The acting is good. The effects are great. The plot is good, but no extraordinary. However, if you are like me, and you award extra points for having all the ducks line up in a row, and still be initeresting, then maybe you’ll say that the plot is great. The bottom line is that 20 years from now, I know I can show the movie to kids (hopefully mine), and tell them that this is why the should watch out at wild parties, and I know I will totally freak the fuck out of them, because they won’t see any of the monster stuff coming, and they will have already related to the characters, and it will be too late for them to be cynical, and not care. Cloverfield is a good enough movie to pull you in if you don’t already know what it’s about. And it’s good enough to welcome you into it, and not burst the thinnest bubble of belief-suspension if you are willing conjure it for your own enjoyment. It’s as realistic as a Godzilla movie could possibly be, while avoiding obvious lulls.

But like I said before, see it in theaters, while the sound and spectacle surrounds you, because clearly, this is a movie where the star isn’t a human, or a CGI monster. The star is self-immersion itself.

20:03
Jamie and Teddy Video #11, Over You
» ‎ Cloverfield News

Looks like Jamie is finally over Teddy and she’s headed to Rob’s party. Check out the video at www.jamieandteddy.com (password: jllovesth) or check the youtube video below.
19:59
Tagruato and TIDOwave Websites Shut down?
» ‎ Cloverfield News

Thanks for all the emails about this. It looks as though tagruato.jp and tidowave.com have been “shut down”. If anyone could translate the writing on the tagruato site please let me know. Apparently (thanks to Phil) the US Title 18,2332b is a US code for Terrorism, interesting. Below are screenshots of the two websites as they currently are.

16:50
Cloverfield: So What Did Everyone Think?
» ‎ /Film

This is a forum for all of you piling out of Cloverfield this morning, afternoon, evening and throughout the weekend/month. Did you think J.J. Abrams’s and Matt Reeves’s film was a modern day classic? Did the monster meet your expectations? Did you expect [that] to happen? I’ll be chiming in with my review shortly. This entire post will be a skyscraper-smashing, people-stomping SPOILER, so don’t proceed if you haven’t seen it, unless that’s your thing. Have fun. Note: We will be posting the latest news below this forum for the rest of the day.

Get you Cloverfield on below.
16:50
Cloverfield: Rob’s Party Report
» ‎ /Film

I received an email from long time /Film reader Glenn D, who was lucky enough to attend “Rob’s Party” last night in New York City. Here is his report:

First off, the setup and execution of the party was a pretty poorly crafted event. I understand the premise and it was great to see the cast, but it was boardering on out of control. Once the cast showed up it became a mosh pit to take their pictures. Rob was in and of the bar in a matter of minutes. I was barely able to snap a photo of him. Everyone else though hung out long enough for me to get a shot. You had to be really aggersive and persistant to have a picture taken. The cast themselvs were really nice and cool about the whole thing. Odette Yustman saw me trying to get a picture with her and she kind of went out of her way to help me out. I attached the few photos I was able to get. I am one that looks like a giant light bulb.

After the party we headed down to the Sunshine theater where we all got a free pass to see the movie. Here are a few added photos:

15:18
New Tagruato Post
» ‎ Cloverfield News

Thanks Bill and Derma-Tek for emailing me about this.

Looks like Tagruato has posted another article on their site and it looks like Ganu Yoshida’s trip didn’t go as smooth as planned. Take a look.

Ganu Fights Off Attackers

Tagruato is proud to report that Ganu Yoshida, sustaining no injuries from his recent attack, is continuing his trip as scheduled. “They tried to hold down my hands,” smiled Yoshida at today’s BevVo press conference, “But I can still point to the stars.”

Yoshida was ambushed yesterday afternoon by a radical gang as he left a important restaurant. The group was barely able to restrain Yoshida and pour a liquid over his head before Yoshida fought back, scattering the gang in all directions. Tagruato security officials believe these may be the same attackers who caused the Chuai Station incident weeks prior.

Yoshida remains in high spirits despite the incident and assures his loyalists that the stunt will not affect Slusho!’s assimilation into America. “I should really thank the criminals, ” chuckled Yoshida, “Because of them, I had to postpone a meeting. Now I can extend my stay in New York. I look forward to seeing more of this wonderful city.”

When asked if he feared further attacks from the radicals, who reportedly escaped after running from Yoshida’s power, he responded, “No. I have nothing more to worry about from them.”

12:17
No more waiting, and sexually agressive monster…
» ‎ Project Cloverfield

Well, today is the day. We were going to go to a showing later on in the evening but I believe we’re going to go around 5pm today. Namely because there’s so many plans for tonight that we had to get it squeezed in as soon as possible :P

Anyway, check out a comic from HijiNKS ENSUE about the Cloverfield monster. Don’t worry, there’s no crazy spoilers. :o)

11:36
New Photo on 1-18-08.com, Guts
» ‎ Cloverfield News

Thanks to all that commented about this.

Check out the new photo from [www.1-18-08.com] , I dont know if it’s whale guys or if a monster was destroyed (judging from the previous pictures) and these are that monsters guts. What do you guys think?

Featured Cloverfield Item For Sale

NEW JJ ABRAMS OFFICIAL CLOVERFIELD SLUSHO T-SHIRT LARGE
US $71.00 (6 Bids)
End Date: Wednesday Jan-23-2008 17:21:47 PST
Bid now | Add to watch list

8:40
So...
» ‎ 01-18-08

What did you guys think of the movie?
My thoughts about it--[POSSIBLE SPOILERS]
The movie itself was pretty good; engaging, exciting, interesting, mysterious. A sense of chaos was captured everywhere--especially in the camera, which made me dizzy as hell. It is LITERALLY a homevideo held by Hud (supposedly; I mean maybe a pro-cam. man was holding it, but it followed Hud`s movements, running and jumping and all)--not by a professional cameraman like say in Dancer in the Dark. I nearly threw up by the time the movie ended, so thankfully it was short.
[OKAY, ACTUAL SPOILERS MENTIONED]
However, I felt that the movie didn`t live up to the hype it has created; either that, or I expected too much out of it. Cloverfield did not provide ANY background information about where the monster came from, why it chose to attack New York, what exactly happens to the people who get bitten, etcetc. Yes, this is realistic since the cameraman is one of the characters, but at the end of the movie, I felt very unsatisfied and wanted to know more about the background of this monster. When it ended, about 80% of the theater stayed behind hoping that there would be some sort of explaination at the end of the long credits, but we were only rewarded w/ a sound clip of Rob saying either "I`m alive" or "Where am I?" The people who haven`t been following up w/ this movie`s websites and rumors about the plot will not understand what is going on and will find this movie pointless. Imo, the "passive organisms in the Slusho! being consumed by humans and their wastes getting dumped into the ocean where the aggressive organisms are stirred from their sleep to devour these passive organisms" theory fits the movie the most.
[END SPOILERS]
For those who haven`t watched it yet, don`t stay for after the credits; it`s not a videoclip and it`s not worth the wait. What happens after the credits is above in my review, which you can find out after you watch the movie.

2:11
Box Office Tracking: Cloverfield targets $40M 4-Day
» ‎ /Film

The star-studded premiere of Cloverfield (Paramount) was last night (Wednesday, January 16) at the studio lot on Melrose. Young Hollywood was out in full force, including everyone from Lindsay Lohan, Patrick Stump and bandmates from Fall Out Boy and, of course, the cast of MTV’s The Hills (with LC, Audrina and Whitney not giving the time of day to Heidi and Spencer).

The film is smart, well-conceived and consistently entertaining, and, from what I can tell, the Under 30 crowd was satisfied. In other words, the movie does deliver on the months and months of hype. With a reported budget of just $25M, Cloverfield will be a cash cow for Paramount. Word-of-mouth will be strong, and the monster itself, without giving too much away, is unlike anything I’ve seen before on screen.

The industry tracking for Cloverfield demonstrates that this picture’s core demo will be Males Under 25, and that is the film industry’s “money demo.” Young males show up at theatres on opening weekend. In the case of this J.J. Abrams produced spectacle, they’re even going to turn up in significant numbers for Thursday night midnight screenings across the country.

Tracking falls short of recent blockbusters like 300 and Transformers, but Cloverfield is on the playing field. Un-Aided Awareness for the current fanboy favorite is at 10% compared to week-of Un-Aided Awareness of 17% for 300 and 26% for Transformers. Un-Aided Awareness is the best measure of buzz and anticipation.

In terms of Total Aware, Cloverfield is at a so-so 57% compared to 63% for 300 and a staggering 94% for Transformers. In the Definite Interest column, however, the highly anticipated monster movie is showing strength.

DEFINITE INTEREST
300 - 52%
(Males Under 25 – 67%, Males 25 Plus – 59%
Females Under 25 – 32%, Females 25 Plus – 40%)

Transformers - 46%
(Males Under 25 – 58%, Males 25 Plus – 52%
Females Under 25 – 36%, Females 25 Plus – 38%)

Cloverfield - 45%
(Males Under 25 – 63%, Males 25 Plus – 43%
Females Under 25 – 38%, Females 25 Plus – 25%)

Cloverfield’s audience will be younger and more male-skewing than the other 2 blockbusters, but 63% of Males Under 25 is a huge number that will convert to ticket sales at America‘s multiplexes.

This weekend, the Matt Reeves-directed Cloverfield is the First Choice of 17% of all moviegoers with a strong 36% with Males Under 25. Males 25 Plus are at 22%, which is solid as well. Here are the overall First Choice and demo breakouts for Cloverfield compared to 300 and Transformers.

FIRST CHOICE
300 - 24%
(Males Under 25 – 49%, Males 25 Plus – 26%
Females Under 25 – 7%, Females 25 Plus – 12%)

Transformers - 23%
(Males Under 25 – 33%, Males 25 Plus – 28%
Females Under 25 – 16%, Females 25 – 13%)

Cloverfield -17%
(Males Under 25 – 36%, Males 25 Plus – 22%
Females Under 25 – 6%, Females 25 Plus – 5%)

Obviously, Cloverfield will not have the available audience that was available to Transformers this past summer. The Michael Bay-directed film opened on a Monday night and grabbed about $85M before delivering a $70.5M opening weekend. It doesn’t have quite the “sizzle” that 300 had by the time it opened to $70.8M last March.

It will, however, be huge. I’m targeting $39M-$42M for Cloverfield in its opening 4-day, and there’s a chance that it may break out higher.

The other major wide release is 27 Dresses (Fox) starring Katherine Heigl. Well-known for her work on Grey’s Anatomy and a star for her turn in Knocked Up, Heigl gets a test of her box office clout in what is essentially a so-so “chick flick.”

P.S. I Love You, which opened to about $6.5M on the recent pre-Christmas weekend, is a pretty good comparable for 27 Dresses. The Hillary Swank vehicle was at 4% Un-Aided Awareness compared to 7% for the Heigl rom-com, although the Total Aware was slightly better for P.S. 67%-63%. 27 Dresses, however, hold s huge advantage in the Definite Interest column 32%-24% and in the First Choice column 11%-5%.

Partly because of its decidedly feminine title, 27 Dresses, written by the scripter of The Devil Wears Prada, Aline Brosh McKenna, and co-starring James Marsden, who made a splash in Hairspray over the summer, has almost no appeal with men. Definite Interest with Males Under 25 is at 5%, and, with Males 25 Plus, it’s only marginally better at 13%. That certainly gives this one a limited upside. Still, 27 Dresses should reach the $19M-$22M range.

Mad Money is the first title from the new company called Overture. With a cast that includes Oscar winner Diane Keaton, Oscar nominee Queen Latifah and Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, this probably seemed like a good idea when it was developed. Women of 3 generations pulling off a heist at the Federal Reserve is a reasonably clever premise, but industry tracking shows that this movie isn’t going to work.

The Total Aware for Mad Money is 70%, which means that people have heard about the movie, but it’s Definite Interest score is only 26%. Of new releases, this movie is the 3rd choice among Under 25 Females, and it’s only tied with 27 Dresses for First Choice among Females 25 Plus. This will mean a rough start for Mad Money with a meager $7M-10M.

Here are my projections for the 4-day MLK weekend:
1. Cloverfield - $40M
2. 27 Dresses - $20M
3. The Bucket List - $15.5M
4. First Sunday - $13M
5. Juno - $12M
6. National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $9M
7. Mad Money - $8.5M
8. Alvin and the Chipmunks - $7.5M
9. I Am Legend - $6M
10. Atonement - $4M

Read More at Fantasy Moguls.com.

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Project Cloverfield RSS Feeder » January 18, 2008

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Am I missing something?

011808 @ 2008-01-18T23:08:00

011808 @ 2008-01-18T21:50:00

Hunter’s Movie Review: Cloverfield

Where Do Cloverfield Monsters Come From?

011808 @ 2008-01-18T18:07:00

Review Numero Uno (Sensitive to your Spoiler Needs)

Jamie and Teddy Video #11, Over You

Tagruato and TIDOwave Websites Shut down?

Cloverfield: So What Did Everyone Think?

Cloverfield: Rob’s Party Report

New Tagruato Post

No more waiting, and sexually agressive monster…

New Photo on 1-18-08.com, Guts

So...

Box Office Tracking: Cloverfield targets $40M 4-Day