The Cloverfield Paradox
A space station crew faces a paradox that alters reality.
The Cloverfield Paradox is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and the third installment in the Cloverfield franchise. It follows an international crew of astronauts aboard a space station who, after activating a particle accelerator, find that Earth has vanished. The film was released on Netflix immediately after a surprise trailer aired during Super Bowl LII.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Julius Onah
- Screenplay
- Oren Uziel
- Story
- Oren Uziel; Doug Jung
- Producer
- J. J. Abrams; Lindsey Weber
- Starring
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw
- Elizabeth Debicki
- Aksel Hennie
- Daniel Brühl
- Chris O'Dowd
- John Ortiz
- David Oyelowo
- Zhang Ziyi
- Cinematography
- Dan Mindel
- Editing
- Alan Baumgarten
- Matt Evans
- Rebecca Valente
- Music
- Bear McCreary
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In 2028, Earth suffers a global energy crisis, prompting the crew of the Cloverfield space station to test the Shepard particle accelerator for infinite energy. The crew includes British engineer Ava Hamilton, German physicist Ernst Schmidt, Brazilian doctor Monk Acosta, American commander Kiel, Russian engineer Volkov, Irish engineer Mundy, and Chinese engineer Tam. Conspiracy theorists fear the accelerator will create the Cloverfield Paradox, opening portals to parallel universes. After two years of failed attempts, the crew achieves a stable beam, but an overload causes Earth to vanish and the station's gyroscope to go missing. They discover a woman named Mina Jensen fused into a wall. Volkov's eyeballs move independently, and he dies as a worm colony bursts from him. Jensen warns Hamilton not to trust Schmidt. On Earth, Hamilton's husband Michael witnesses a giant monster ravaging the city. On the station, Mundy's severed arm writes instructions to cut Volkov open, revealing the missing gyroscope inside his corpse. The crew locates Earth but receives transmissions showing the station destroyed two days earlier. They realize the accelerator transported them to a parallel universe where Jensen replaced Tam as engineer.
Production
The film was announced in November 2012 under the title God Particle, based on a script by Oren Uziel, with Julius Onah to direct. J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot produced it, initially planned for Paramount's Insurge Pictures label with a budget of $5–10 million. Uziel wrote the spec script about a year after finishing Shimmer Lake. At the time of acquisition, the script was not connected to the Cloverfield franchise. Abrams saw potential for the film to establish origin stories for other Cloverfield works, noting the script had the DNA for a spiritual sequel. In March 2015, Paramount closed the Insurge label, and by February 2016 confirmed the film would release under its own label with a February 2017 date. Casting began in March 2016 with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo, followed by Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl, Chris O'Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, John Ortiz, and Aksel Hennie in May. John Krasinski was in early talks but had a possible conflict. Only during production did Abrams decide to link the film to Cloverfield, adapting Uziel's screenplay and adding scenes to establish the connection, similar to the approach used for 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Release
In October 2016, The Wrap learned of the film's connection to Cloverfield, though Paramount and Bad Robot did not comment. By December 2016, Paramount affirmed the connection, dropping the title God Particle in favor of listing it as the 2017 Cloverfield movie. The release was delayed from February 2017 to October 2017 for more post-production time, then to February 2018, and finally to April 20, 2018. In mid-January 2018, the Cloverfield alternative reality game was relaunched, hinting at ties to the other films. In late January 2018, The Hollywood Reporter stated Netflix was interested in picking up the film, following a deal similar to Annihilation. Paramount's chairman Jim Gianopulos felt the budget, which had ballooned to over $40 million, was too large for a profitable theatrical release. In March 2018, Paramount's COO Andrew Gumpert affirmed that after reviewing the finished film, the studio doubted its commercial viability and sold the rights to Netflix, making the film immediately profitable. Netflix paid more than $40 million for the rights, with negotiations starting in late December 2017 and completed by mid-January 2018. Paramount retains China and home entertainment release rights.
Reception
The film received generally negative reviews, with many considering it the weakest of the Cloverfield films. John DeFire of The Hollywood Reporter called it a trainwreck of a sci-fi flick bent on extending a franchise. Dino-Ray Ramos of Deadline Hollywood said the Super Bowl trailer gave the impression the film would reveal the monster's origin but barely did, stalling the franchise as a pastiche of sci-fi cinema. Cinemablend gave a positive review, granting 4 of 5 stars, noting the ensemble cast keeps the wheels in motion and Ava's storyline provides a human anchor. The marketing approach of announcing the film during the Super Bowl and premiering it hours later was seen as novel. IGN noted this strategy could only work for an established franchise. According to Nielsen ratings, nearly 785,000 viewers watched the film on the night of Super Bowl LII, with 2.8 million within three days and 5 million after a week. These ratings were not as strong as Netflix's Bright, which had 11 million viewers within three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the music for The Cloverfield Paradox?
The music for The Cloverfield Paradox was composed by Bear McCreary.
How long is The Cloverfield Paradox?
The Cloverfield Paradox has a running time of 102 minutes.
What was the budget of The Cloverfield Paradox?
The Cloverfield Paradox had a budget of $45 million.
More in Films About Parallel Universes
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced