The Cloverfield movies are all different—but are all part of the larger story.

“[Breaking] down all the connections between the three Cloverfield movies—the first Cloverfield Easter egg arrived before the movie even hit theaters…”

The 2008 found-footage monster movie Cloverfield follows six young New York City residents fleeing from a massive monster and various other smaller creatures that attack the city during a party. The first of a series, the film was followed by films that were related—but did not follow the story in a straight line.

The video below talks about how the movies are connected. The movies in the series so far...

• Cloverfield 2008—A normal evening in Manhattan becomes a fight for survival when a gigantic, horrific monster of unknown origin begins decimating the city. Surrounded by panic and fear, a young man leads a small group of his friends on a desperate trek across town to rescue the woman he loves, their daring journey documented on a hand-held digital video camera that provides a harrowing first-person perspective. Find Cloverfield on Amazon

• 10 Cloverfield Lane 2016—Outside is dangerous…inside is terrifying. After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist’s underground bunker. He claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable. But, as his increasingly suspicious actions lead her to question his motives, she’ll have to escape in order to discover the truth. Find 10 Cloverfield Lane on Amazon

• The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)—Orbiting Earth on the brink of a devastating energy war, scientists prepare to test a device that could provide unlimited power or trap them in a terrifying alternate reality. Find The Cloverfield Paradox on Amazon

All three movies are standalones, but there are connections to the larger Cloverfield story…

Wait—is there a fourth Cloverfield movie coming?

The original Cloverfield movie director, Matt Reeves, told SYFY Wire that he has an idea for a new Cloverfield project—which could confuse the timeline even more. Celebrating the original movie’s 15th anniversary, Reeves confirmed to SYFY Wire that Cloverfield’s monster is an alien. Then (inspired by the Covid pandemic) he explained his idea for what might come next for the series…

“It would be about a virus. The funny thing about making that movie, like I said, for me, it opened up the idea of making genre movies and specifically about exploring your own feelings about things. I had such anxiety that was related to… I mean, I still have such anxiety. I think I wouldn’t be a filmmaker if I didn’t have anxiety.”

But don’t be nervous quite yet: Other reports about the fourth Cloverfield movie suggest the story will be coming from someone else entirely. Deadline says the sequel will be helmed by director Babak Anvari and writer Joe Barton.

Sooo…we’ll see what happens.

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Related links

• 10 Movies like Cloverfield you must watch (Ready Steady Cut)

• 10 Movie Monsters That Deserved More Screen Time (Screen Rant)

• Cloverfield: Every Movie in the Franchise, Ranked (MovieWeb)

• 25 Forgotten Horror Movies From the 00s (Creepy Catalog)

• 15 years later, people still talk about the original Cloverfield trailer. So why aren’t more movies doing this? (JOE.ie)

• Underrated Post-Apocalyptic Movies You Need To Watch (Looper)

• Matt Reeves' Cloverfield 4 Idea Would Confuse The Franchise Even More (Screen Rant)

• 12 Forgotten Sci-Fi Horror Movies That Are Worth Checking Out (MovieWeb)

• Cloverfield Ending, Explained (Game Rant)

• The 40 Best Found Footage Horror Movies of All Time (Paste Magazine)

• The Cloverfield Franchise Was an Odd Monster That Failed to Deliver (Collider)

• Great Horror Villains Ruined With A Bad Scene (CBR)

• Cloverfield 2 in the Works with Babak Anvari Directing! (Bloody Disgusting)