I Came By director Babak Anvari to helm a new Cloverfield sequel

The upcoming Cloverfield sequel has found its director – Babak Anvari, who previously helmed Under the Shadow and the Netflix movie I Came By, has been tasked with bringing the series back to the big screen, according to Deadline.

As previously reported, Joe Barton, showrunner on the upcoming HBO Max prequel series to Matt Reeves' The Batman, will pen the script, with J.J. Abrams returning to produce under his Bad Robot Productions banner. 

The Hollywood Reporter previously claimed that the sequel would not be found-footage, like the original Cloverfield, but would take place after the events of that first movie. However, Deadline now says that details are being kept under wraps and that it's unclear whether this will be a direct continuation of the original or another self-contained story in the franchise like 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane and 2018's The Cloverfield Paradox. We will no doubt be waiting a long while for any concrete information on the plot of this new Cloverfield movie, as has been the way with this secretive franchise.

The first Cloverfield, directed by Reeves, was one of the most talked-about horror movies of 2008, thanks in part to a viral marketing campaign that ran cryptic teasers before showings of major theatrical releases like Transformers and Beowulf. 10 Cloverfield Lane likewise had a viral online marketing campaign where information was only revealed close to the release date, and Cloverfield Paradox was released onto Netflix at the same time as the first trailer debuted during the Super Bowl.

Anvari makes for an exciting choice of director: Under The Shadow won filmmaker the BAFTA for outstanding debut, while I Came By racked up 30 million viewing hours on Netflix in its first week and is one of the best Netflix thrillers currently available on the streamer.