Ever since the first trailer for The End of Oak Street hit the internet, fans have been theorising that the movie is connected to producer J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield trilogy, but the filmmaker has now put that rumor to bed.
"The only connection to our Cloverfield movies is that Ewan’s partner is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who was the star of 10 Cloverfield Lane, who we were very lucky to get to work with and who I adore," said Abrams to The Hollywood Reporter. "So there was that, but other than that, people are just making connections that they happen to see."
Directed by David Robert Mitchell, The End of Oak Street stars Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway as a married couple who wake up one day to find that their whole neighbourhood has been transported to prehistoric times. The Cloverfield franchise deals with alien invasion, but fans saw links between the two movies due to The End of Oak Street originally being titled Flowervale Street, and McGregor and Hathaway's characters sharing the same surname as Hud Platt from the original Cloverfield.
Plus, the third movie, The Cloverfield Paradox, includes news segments reporting that whole city blocks went missing due to tears in space and time caused by a new dangerous device. Oh, and Collider even found that the real Oak Street in Santa Monica, California, ends at Clover Park, right by where Abrams' production company Bad Robot is located. There were just too many coincidences for fans to ignore.
Alas, it sounds like the two universes are not connected after all. However, that might be a good thing, as we have had our fill of alien projects over the past few years. It is time for dinosaurs to shine, and first reactions to The End of Oak Street are already calling it the best dino movie since Jurassic Park. Abrams adds that the Jurassic theme is what pulled him in. "To have dinosaurs in our world, there was a juxtaposition that was so immediately exciting," said Abrams.
The End of Oak Street is released in cinemas on August 14. For more, keep up with new horror movies and upcoming movies on the way in 2026 and beyond.
