The marketing for the mysterious fourth film in theCloverfieldfranchise has taken an exciting new turn with the re-animation of its viral SLUSHO website.
A new installment was announced last fall under the popular sci-fi horror franchise’s usual veil of secrecy, resulting in much speculation among fans as to the approach directorBabak Anvari’sCloverfieldproject would take. Possibilities include another standalone film or a true sequel to the 2008 original, which featured the story of a monstrous Godzilla-like creature’s attack on New York City told found footage style.10 Cloverfield LaneandThe Cloverfield Paradoxwere set within theCloverfielduniverse (or the Cloververse). While loosely tied in terms of plot and reality, they were both written as separate projects later threaded into the mythology. The original film was one of the first franchises to take full advantage of viral marketing before and after its release, creating a whole virtual world around the movie.
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As noted bySlash Film, one of those little Cloververse corners of the internet has come roaring back to life as more details on Anvari’s newCloverfieldfilm, produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot, are eagerly awaited by fans. TheSLUSHO website, markets a fictional drink created from seabed nectar in several flavors, including Blueberry Zoom, Chocolate Rage, Banana Anime, and Strawberry Tasty, inviting users to create and mix flavors. The strange product is made by the Tagruato mining company, which fans will remember was Rob Hawkins' new employer in Japan and the center ofCloverfield’s viral marketing ARG, which included videos and web content that told of possibly sinister activities that may have led to the emergence of the creature from the depths.
The website had remained silent sinceMatt Reeves' initialCloverfieldfilm’s releasebut recently added new and fresh content, pointing to a possible re-animation of this aspect of the Cloververse. While the two additional films in theCloverfieldfranchise in the intervening years have given greater context to the whys and whats of the first film’s plot, fans have been eager for a true sequel to the attack on NYC. The re-animation of SLUSHO may mean that fans will get a chance to learn more about what happened in Manhattan and the fate of the monster that fans affectionately call “Clover,” named after the military endeavor name, “Cloverfield,” a.k.a. Central Park.
With more options available to the newCloverfieldmovie’s marketing team, it will be exciting to see how the film uses platforms like Twitter and TikTok, which did not exist when the first was released. But only time will tell if the new Cloverfield movie meets fan expectations.
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