J.J. Abrams Says 10 Cloverfield Lane Is Not Cloverfield 2

Last month, when Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions dropped a surprise trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, some people assumed it was a sequel to 2008's Cloverfield. Over the past several weeks, we've learned that it isn't a Cloverfield sequel, however, it will have connections to the original film.

"This movie is very purposefully not called Cloverfield 2, because it's not Cloverfield 2," producer J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) told Fandango, adding that "the association is clear and there are multiple connections – and there is a bigger idea at play for us with these movies and this connection."

Abrams, a man that loves his secrecy, is keeping a tight lid on those connections. However, he did eliminate one possible connection by revealing that the "Cloverfield monster isn't in this movie."

"And the fun of it is that some of these connections – and there's a lot of them – are not the kind of connections you might think," Abrams continued. So if you're approaching it as a literal sequel, you'll be surprised to see what this movie is. But while it's not what you might expect from a movie that has the name Cloverfield in it, I think you'll find that you'll understand the connection when you see the whole thing."

The film was directed by Dan Trachtenberg, and written by Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken. It stars John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr., and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

10 Cloverfield Lane, a new film from J.J. Abrams. In theatres March 11, 2016.