The monster movie Cloverfield, which is produced by J.J. Abrams and opens this weekend, has benefited from one of the most interesting and stealthy marketing campaigns in the history of cinema -- a campaign that extends to Japan where a 22-page manga has appeared on the Kadokawa Website. The manga, entitled Cloverfield: Kishin, is copyrighted by Paramount (which is releasing Cloverfield) and contains references to the international oil drilling conglomerate Tagruato that ties in with the Cloverfield trailers, which have become one of the primary sources about the hush-hush film as online observers parse each frame for new insights into the upcoming movie.
The first trailer, which was seen by millions since it accompanied the Transformers movie, did not mention the name of the film, just its release date (1/18/08). Withholding the name of the film encouraged loads of speculation -- the name was finally confirmed in a second trailer that appeared in theaters on November 16th. A number of Websites with cryptic names and Lovecraftian content such as 'Ethan Haas Was Right' may or may not be linked to the film. Websites for Slusho! (a drink that was mentioned in Abrams' Alias TV series and which also appears in Cloverfield) and for Tagruato, the Japanese drilling company, add various elements to the Cloverfield mythology including sonar images of a giant aquatic creature approaching
Cloverfield, which was directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard (Abrams is the producer), features a cast of virtual unknowns and was produced for just $30 million, a pittance compared with the budgets for most special effects-laden monster movies these days. With a marketing campaign that is also focused on getting the most bang for the buck, Cloverfield could be a huge moneymaker if it can avoid the disappointment that befell the Internet-hyped Snakes on a Plane. The manga tie-in with Kadokawa indicates that Abrams &
