In April 2007, Abrams learned that in order to get Cloverfield's teaser hitched to Transformers, the filmmakers would have to submit something to Paramount ASAP. Problem was, filming hadn't started yet. In fact, Cloverfield's screenwriter, Drew Goddard, wasn't even finished with the movie's script due to the demands of his day job as a coexecutive producer on Lost. So instead of cobbling something together from existing footage, as most filmmakers do, Abrams & Co. awarded the teaser a shoot of its own. According to Reeves, ''a large part of our 12-week prep for the whole movie was used just to prepare for the teaser.'' The actors, who had auditioned for the film without even knowing it was a monster movie, felt crunched too. ''We were like, 'What? We don't even have a script!' They gave us a couple pages of outline and we just went with it,'' says Odette Yustman, whose character spends most of the movie trapped in her apartment awaiting rescue. Improvising proved to be a blessing for the crew. The film ''had a lot of complicated logistical issues,'' says Reeves. ''How do we do the special effects? How do we make it all look naturalistic? How do we edit? We used the trailer as a workshop; the experience taught us how to make the movie.''
Paramount exec Rob Moore had the idea to pique curiosity by forgoing a title and ending the trailer with only Abrams' name and a date: 1-18-08. ''It was all about using showmanship to elevate the profile of a movie that had none,'' he says. (In the movie, ''Cloverfield'' is a military code name for the videotape that holds the film's story. Goddard, who chose the title, declines to explain its significance. ''I've never told anyone my reasons — not even J.J.,'' he says.) But has the teaser raised expectations that can't be fulfilled? Abrams acknowledges that this kind of marketing risks inviting ''the din of Snakes on a Plane.'' Indeed, immediately after the teaser's release, the online world was rife with speculation about the movie's plot — and skepticism about how cool the monster would be. ''If the worst thing that happens is that the trailer made people get too excited, I'll take that over the alternative of nobody caring at all,'' says Abrams. Adds Moore: ''What the teaser promised was a unique experience. When you see the movie, you will get that unique experience.''
The earliest reviews would seem to agree. Last week, Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool News declared Cloverfield ''utterly brilliant.'' (EW's Lisa Schwarzbaum is also a fan, if not quite as fervid; see her Cloverfield review.) Less clear is how audiences will respond to the film's intensity, as well as its ending, which Reeves tweaked in late December for clarity and tone. But Abrams has no regrets — except, perhaps, being the only name on the marquee. If the film is a success, he hopes that those who made his monster-movie dream come true will get their proper credit. And if it's not a success? ''When Lost came out and ABC sold it with my name, I remember thinking, 'If this fails, that's going to be kind of embarrassing.' But I also thought I should consider myself lucky to be even worried about something like that at all,'' he says. ''If my stock goes down, so be it. It's a gamble I'm willing to make if it means being able to say, 'Wow! We actually get to make this stuff.'''
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