 JJ Abrams is known for maintaining CIA levels of secrecy around his films, but the latest film from Bad Robot takes it to the next level. Three months ago, 10 Cloverfield Lane didn't even exist as a blank page on IMDb, but this week it hits theaters. I sat down with the producer and Star Wars director to talk about the film in the least spoilery way humanly possible. How close are you to actually just pulling a cinematic Beyonce, just dropping the whole thing on a Friday, no warning, no trailer? I don't know if we could quite get away with that, but it was definitely a decision to withhold the movie as long as possible and just to kind of see what might happen. Anything that breaks the template and the sort of expected way of things is always kind of fun to try, and Paramount was open to doing it, which I was thrilled about. I mean, the title obviously makes for a lot of speculation about how this ties into Cloverfield and all of that. I personally enjoyed it as just a trapped in a bunker with John Goodman movie. In which way do you think it's- There have been so many of those. Yeah, yeah, it's a strong genre. What's not better than trapped in the bunker with John Goodman? I mean, what way do you think it's more enjoyable for audiences to come in as like a standalone, or how rewarding do you think the apology will be? We purposely didn't call this movie Cloverfield 2 because it's not a direct sequel at all, and the idea is to begin what is in part an anthology and in part this other thing that we're working on. It felt like things don't make sense until you know them, so it's like what is being questioned right now, if this works, will be understood as soon as it does. What I'm hoping is we have this sort of big idea that would be really fun to do if we get the shot, and this is just another sort of step in that direction. But I think that the movie is deserving of attention. I think it's a funny, terrifying, weird, twisted, cool, suspenseful thriller, and those are really fun to see when they work. And I think that Dan and the cast and crew did a great job. Well, tell me a little bit about how you started collaborating with Dan, because he came out of the kind of geek film journalism coverage world. How did the idea develop with him, and how did you find him? Well, Lindsay Weber, who produced the movie with me, knew Dan beforehand. She was a fan of his. He had done some shorts as well, and he came in to meet. He had an incredibly clear vision, was a kind of very clear collaborator. We began working on the script once he was signed on. While he was shooting, I was working on Star Wars, so I would watch dailies, but I wasn't on set with him. And then in post, we were just working together to make sure that the rhythm of the movie, the effects, the sound design, all that kind of stuff, was as strong as it could be. But he directed this movie. I was just trying to be as helpful as I could to help his vision be seen through. But he was a wonderful collaborator. Yeah, I mean, it shows on screen. It seems so ready and sure of itself. Yeah, he's a very confident director. It's almost more Hitchcockian in a way than anything else. I feel like as the first Cloverfield movie was a family footage movie, and Matt Reeves did such an amazing job with that and that kind of energy, Dan does something wholly different with this movie. It's very confident and at times very still, but building tension in a different way. And it just feels, you know, it's an incredibly cool thing to watch this movie and think it's his first film. Yeah. No! No! No, no, no! Don't open that door! You're going to get all of us killed! No! No! No! No! No! No!
 JJ Abrams is known for maintaining CIA levels of secrecy around his films, but the latest
 film from Bad Robot takes it to the next level.
 Three months ago, 10 Cloverfield Lane didn't even exist as a blank page on IMDb, but this
 week it hits theaters.
 I sat down with the producer and Star Wars director to talk about the film in the least
 spoilery way humanly possible.
 How close are you to actually just pulling a cinematic Beyonce, just dropping the whole
 thing on a Friday, no warning, no trailer?
 I don't know if we could quite get away with that, but it was definitely a decision to
 withhold the movie as long as possible and just to kind of see what might happen.
 Anything that breaks the template and the sort of expected way of things is always kind
 of fun to try, and Paramount was open to doing it, which I was thrilled about.
 I mean, the title obviously makes for a lot of speculation about how this ties into Cloverfield
 and all of that.
 I personally enjoyed it as just a trapped in a bunker with John Goodman movie.
 In which way do you think it's-
 There have been so many of those.
 Yeah, yeah, it's a strong genre.
 What's not better than trapped in the bunker with John Goodman?
 I mean, what way do you think it's more enjoyable for audiences to come in as like a standalone,
 or how rewarding do you think the apology will be?
 We purposely didn't call this movie Cloverfield 2 because it's not a direct sequel at all,
 and the idea is to begin what is in part an anthology and in part this other thing that
 we're working on.
 It felt like things don't make sense until you know them, so it's like what is being
 questioned right now, if this works, will be understood as soon as it does.
 What I'm hoping is we have this sort of big idea that would be really fun to do if we
 get the shot, and this is just another sort of step in that direction.
 But I think that the movie is deserving of attention.
 I think it's a funny, terrifying, weird, twisted, cool, suspenseful thriller, and those are
 really fun to see when they work.
 And I think that Dan and the cast and crew did a great job.
 Well, tell me a little bit about how you started collaborating with Dan, because he came out
 of the kind of geek film journalism coverage world.
 How did the idea develop with him, and how did you find him?
 Well, Lindsay Weber, who produced the movie with me, knew Dan beforehand.
 She was a fan of his.
 He had done some shorts as well, and he came in to meet.
 He had an incredibly clear vision, was a kind of very clear collaborator.
 We began working on the script once he was signed on.
 While he was shooting, I was working on Star Wars, so I would watch dailies, but I wasn't
 on set with him.
 And then in post, we were just working together to make sure that the rhythm of the movie,
 the effects, the sound design, all that kind of stuff, was as strong as it could be.
 But he directed this movie.
 I was just trying to be as helpful as I could to help his vision be seen through.
 But he was a wonderful collaborator.
 Yeah, I mean, it shows on screen.
 It seems so ready and sure of itself.
 Yeah, he's a very confident director.
 It's almost more Hitchcockian in a way than anything else.
 I feel like as the first Cloverfield movie was a family footage movie, and Matt Reeves
 did such an amazing job with that and that kind of energy, Dan does something wholly
 different with this movie.
 It's very confident and at times very still, but building tension in a different way.
 And it just feels, you know, it's an incredibly cool thing to watch this movie and think it's
 his first film.
 Yeah.
 No!
 No!
 No, no, no!
 Don't open that door!
 You're going to get all of us killed!
 No!
 No!
 No!
 No!
 No!
 No!