J.J. Abrams’ supernatural World War II thriller Overlord will get its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2018 in Austin, TX. A first trailer recently dropped for Overlord, which Abrams produced through Bad Robot with Julius Avery directing. The movie stars Jovan Adepo (Fences), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm on Game of Thrones), Wyatt Russell (Ingrid Goes West) and Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy on Game of Thrones). The story concerns a group of WWII soldiers being dropped behind enemy lines on D-Day and finding themselves in a bizarre Nazi lab where supernatural forces have been unleashed.

After early descriptions of Overlord made their way out to the public, speculation immediately fired up that the movie would in fact be part of Abrams’ Cloverfield universe, which began with 2008's Cloverfield and expanded with 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane. However, Abrams quickly made it clear that Overlord is not a Cloverfield movie but is instead its own entity. This year did of course see the release of a Cloverfield film, though The Cloverfield Paradox did not exactly wow critics or fans after it debuted on Netflix in surprise fashion right after the Super Bowl (having been dumped by original distributors Paramount Pictures).

Overlord may not be a Cloverfield movie (which may actually be a good thing after Cloverfield Paradox), but the trailer definitely makes it look like a wild and mysterious thriller very much in the Cloverfield vein. As reported by Deadline, the public will get their first look at Overlord when it debuts as part of the lineup at Fantastic Fest 2018, set to kick off September 20th in Austin.


Overlord may be the biggest title announced to run at Fantastic Fest so far, but it’s far from the only buzz-worthy movie slated for the event. The Raid director Gareth Evans will be there too showing his movie Apostle, which stars Dan Stevens as a man trying to rescue his sister from a religious cult run by Michael Sheen. In addition, Timo Tjahjanto (Headshot) will debut his action thriller The Night Comes For Us featuring Raid stars Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais.

Female genre directors will also get a special spotlight at the festival. Ukranian director Marysia Nikitiu will show her drama When The Trees Fall and Spain’s Sonia Escolano will show her romance House of Sweat and Tears. Isabella Eklof brings her Sundance favorite Holiday to the event, while Fantastic Fest veteran Amanda Kramer shows her post-apocalyptic teenage thriller Ladyworld.

Of course, Overlord will be the highlight of the event for many people, after all the secrecy that surrounded the film. After Cloverfield Paradox, some would argue the Abrams' brand has been slightly damaged, which arguably places the onus on Overlord to re-establish the public's faith in the director and his sneaky marketing tendencies. Abrams himself has characterized the movie as "crazy," and it definitely looks it from the trailer, with its combination of pulse-pounding WWII action and Nazi-created monster mayhem.

Overlord (2018) release date: Nov 09, 2018