How Cloverfield Paradox’s Surprise Release May Affect Hollywood
The Cloverfield Paradox star Daniel Brühl shared his reaction to the film’s surprise release on Netflix and revealed how he thinks it may affect Hollywood, especially in terms of how movies are distributed. Matt Reeves’ 2008 found-footage style horror/thriller Cloverfield kicked off arguably one of the more fascinating shared universes currently in Hollywood. The movie followed a group of New Yorkers during a mysterious monster attack, and what intrigued many fans was how few questions Cloverfield answered in regards to its universe. The mystery got even trickier with the release of 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016, which offered more questions than answers.
What makes the Cloverfield franchise so interesting for many fans is that the mystery extends even beyond the content of the film. It wasn’t revealed until close to the release of 10 Cloverfield Lane that it was even connected to Cloverfield – since the movie was written and filmed under a different title. Taking that mystery a step further, The Cloverfield Paradox was officially acquired by Netflix, received a title and trailer, and released on the streaming service all on the same day. It was a surprise release that stunned those in Hollywood just as much as movie fans. Now, one of Cloverfield Paradox’s stars reveals he was just as surprised as everybody else.
In an interview with Screen Rant to promote his latest project, 7 Days in Entebbe, Brühl shared his reaction to the release of The Cloverfield Paradox, when he found out the film would be released on Netflix, and what he thinks it means for the future of movie distribution in Hollywood. He said:
Quote:
Well I was surprised [laughs] like everybody else. Yeah, we were told, but only actually a couple of moments before it happened. But I guess that’s something that [production company] Bad Robot likes to do, is to keep surprising the people. And this is something that probably will happen more and more in the future, that there will be different ways in releasing films and dealing with films. If that means that for certain films it can be better because you reach a wider audience, then I think it’s – y’know, fair enough. But again it was really a huge surprise on a Sunday or a Saturday, I was like “Wow, that’s gonna happen – interesting.”
Certainly, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have made incredible strides in recent years to producing their own content in addition to acquiring movies and TV series created by outside production houses. Recently, Netflix won their first Oscar with Icarus nabbing Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards, though the streamer has been putting out award-winning TV content for a few years now. Plus, as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon continue to find success with original content, other streaming services are launching to carve out their own niche in this particular market.
Still, while we’re seeing more and more movies receive direct-to-VOD releases or VOD releases soon after a film opens in theaters, The Cloverfield Paradox also launched on Netflix with little to no warning. There were some reports of Netflix acquiring Cloverfield Paradox prior to the official announcement, but many movie fans learned it would be debuting on the streaming site by way of the film’s Super Bowl trailer, which was its first and only trailer. It’s unclear whether any other blockbuster style movies will ever attempt to launch with little to no warning – especially since future Cloverfield movies will debut in theaters – but The Cloverfield Paradox is undoubtedly an indication of a changing film distribution landscape.
