Portable Planet

Ever since J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield trailer debuted in front of Transformers, the net has been going nuts scrounging for additional details. 

 Even the name of the flick is in question — it’s generally understood that Cloverfield is only the working title for the movie which looks to be a blend between Godzilla and the Blair Witch Project.  According to IGN, “The Parasite” may be the working name for the project, although “Slusho” may be an additional one in use as well.

Here’s what we know so far: It is being directed by Matt Reeves, who co-created “Felicity” with J.J. Abrams, and is written by Drew Goddard.  The film centers around a monster attack in New York City, and is told from the point of view of a few people with apparently shaky cameras.   

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the budget is around 30 million, and the cast includes relative unknowns,  including Michael Stahl-David (”The Black Donnellys”), Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel (”Supercross”) and Lizzy Kaplan (”The Class”).

Sadly, the low-quality trailer that had been bootlegged from screenings has not only been unceremonously yanked from YouTube and Google Video; but many webmasters have received cease and desist orders for even linking to the files.   However, the French website Dailymotion.com currently has at least five different copies of the trailer at this particular moment.   Vive la France!