With 10 Cloverfield Lane, J.J. Abrams and director Dan Trachtenberg found a novel way to hide the film’s ties to Cloverfield. They simply withheld the actual title of the movie until the trailer was ready to debut.

But until 10 Cloverfield Lane opens next month, the question of how this film is related to the original Cloverfield remains to be seen. It’s been widely thought that the monster from Cloverfield is the threat keeping Howard (John Goodman), Nate (John Gallagher, Jr.), and Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in an underground bunker. However, the film’s synopsis states that Howard told Michelle that the world suffered a chemical weapons attack and she believes she’s been abducted by Howard.

While Abrams downplayed the idea of direct connection between the two Cloverfield films in a new Entertainment Weekly story, he seemed to suggest that a third Cloverfield movie may be the key that ties them all together.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say there was something else that, if we’re lucky enough to do it, could be really cool that connects some stories,” said Abrams, who also hinted at a “larger conceit” behind the films. “This is just this movie, and it’s only two films that we’re talking about right now. There is something else that we’d like to do, and hopefully we’ll get a shot.”

Here’s a possible theory: perhaps Howard isn’t lying about the chemical attack. And maybe those chemicals were unleashed during the U.S. army’s fruitless attempts to slow down the creature that ravaged New York.

How do you think the Cloverfield movies are connected? Let us know in the comment section below!

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HT: Entertainment Weekly

Image Credit: Paramount Pictures