When the marketing began for "10 Cloverfield Lane," a question loomed over the movie: How could this be a sequel to the New York City monster flick, "Cloverfield"?
Upon the movie's release on March 11, it became clear that this "sequel" had nothing to do with the first flick, except for its spirit. This is a trend that has become popular in television with series like "American Horror Story" and "True Detective," but not so much for movies.
It makes total sense, though, that the inspiration for the "Cloverfield" follow-up came from TV, and now producer J.J. Abrams has confirmed it.
"It was like a 'Twilight Zone' idea," Abrams says in this exclusive clip provided to The Huffington Post. Abrams, who produced both "10 Cloverfield Lane" and "Cloverfield," adds, "I think the great stories are great what-if stories."
Watch the clip (which is also featured on the just released Digital HD version of "10 Cloverfield Lane") below:
"10 Cloverfield Lane" director Dan Trachtenberg previously mentioned this connection, telling Slashfilm earlier this year that, at first, he was going to call the movie something else. As Trachtenberg explained, "It didn’t have that title, but when J.J. came up with the title '10 Cloverfield Lane,' I thought it was genius because that name sounds like a 'Twilight Zone' episode, and this movie is like one giant 'Twilight Zone' episode."
Trachtenberg also told Cinema Blend that "certainly ['10 Cloverfield Lane'] does take place in a different timeline."
Most often, episodes of "The Twilight Zone" did not connect to each other, except for the theme of asking a "what-if" question, as Abrams references in the segment.
Perhaps Abrams' passion for not connecting narratives also finally explains what the hell (or purgatory) was happening on "Lost"!
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