# The Trailer without a Title that ran before the Transformers Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603 "2007-07-05T15:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/21 "2007-07-06T18:37:43Z")
[QUOTE=tanstaafl] Wait a minute… Cthulhu??? [/QUOTE] Probably too good to be true - although I can imagine a Lovecraft story set in a place called Cloverfield - but it _would_ settle the question of “Who will be eaten first?” ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/22 "2007-07-07T00:19:25Z")
Well, it’s fun moving the pictures around at [http://www.1-18-08.com/](http://www.1-18-08.com/). So, can we expect to just be jerked around with this stuff for months? I understand the marketing – I’d just like to, for once, see something really cool without having it hyped endlessly beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/23 "2007-07-07T02:17:30Z")
More info > **[J.J. Abrams Has an Awesome New Monster Movie, and You Can't Know Its Title](https://www.vulture.com/2007/07/jj_abrams_has_an_awesome_new_m.html)** > > Filmjunk reports on that crazy unnamed J.J. Abrams–produced trailer that preceded showings of Transformers this week. The very cool, Blair Witch–style teaser, which shows "cameraphone footage" of a New York party being interrupted by a huge Midtown... > **[J.J. Abrams's ‘Cloverfield’: The Trades and the Blogs Investigate](https://www.vulture.com/2007/07/trades_blogs_both_fail_to_find.html)** > > Yesterday we told you about the trailer for the new J.J. Abrams–produced monster movie, which features shaky camera-phone footage of the Statue of Liberty's head getting blown off. (Maybe the monster is some kind of enormous John Rambo!) Today the... The trailer linked to up-thread has been removed. Here’s another copy. [http://www.trailerspy.com/2007/07/05/transformers-comes-with-a-mystery-trailer/](http://www.trailerspy.com/2007/07/05/transformers-comes-with-a-mystery-trailer/) Finally, has anyone else made it all the way through the puzzles at [http://www.ethanhaaswasright.com](http://www.ethanhaaswasright.com) yet? At the end it asks for an e-mail address and says more information will be available on August 1st. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/24 "2007-07-09T18:42:17Z")
I assumed it was a Godzilla movie, since the people at the party were talking about Japan, and whatever was attacking the city was approaching from the ocean. Of course, given the failure of the last Godzilla movie and the mediocre success of the King Kong remake, I have trouble seeing anyone bank-rolling another “big monster eats NY” film. On the other other hand, what the hell else throws the flaming head of the Statue of Liberty across the island of Manhattan that isn’t some variant of “Giant city eating monster” ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/25 "2007-07-09T18:57:39Z")
I bet it’s a story about a giant frikkin’ statue that’s missing a four toed foot and is pretty pissed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/26 "2007-07-09T19:23:01Z")
Interesting. At the [http://www.1-18-08.com/](http://www.1-18-08.com/) website, you can move the pictures around. But if you leave them alone, they move themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/27 "2007-07-09T20:05:59Z")
I suppose that the line “I saw it, **it’s alive** , it’s huge!” from the trailer precludes the idea that the Giant Killer Something is some sort of “Bad Robot”, eh? ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/28 "2007-07-09T20:18:35Z")
Studios don’t usually open blockbuster movies in January, for what that’s worth. Also, it would be unusual for a major motion picture with big stars and special effects not to be on the collective radar six months before it is scheduled to open. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/29 "2007-07-09T23:19:30Z")
There’s now [an official, clean version of the trailer](http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/large.html) out. So if you don’t want to see Transformers (I know, that’s a huge stretch) then you can see a good copy with decent sound now. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/30 "2007-07-09T23:58:15Z")
Here’s the IMDB page for it: > **[Cloverfield (2008) ⭐ 7.0 | Action, Adventure, Horror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/)** > > 1h 25m | PG-13 ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/31 "2007-07-10T02:37:09Z")
WAG, English remake of [The Host](http://imdb.com/title/tt0468492/) ? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/32 "2007-07-10T07:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=jackdavinci] WAG, English remake of [The Host](http://imdb.com/title/tt0468492/) ? [/QUOTE] Hmmmmm . . . There’s a really cool Los Angeles independent movie theater, [The New Beverly](http://www.newbevcinema.com/), that runs double features. They play classic films, both American and foreign, going all the way back to the silent era. They also show second run films, films just a year or two old. Foreign films getting the American remake treatment commonly show up at The New Beverly in anticipation of the American remake- so people can feel cool going to see the American film then come out saying, “It was o.k., but the original Korean/Indian/French/Argentine version was way cooler.” Well, looking at The New Beverly calendar (linked above), they are currently showing _The Host_ as part of a double feature with _Godzilla_- conspiciously scheduled the week after the Transformers premiere (and, yes, this theater is run by guys who are very much in the know!). I’m willing to lay money down that **jackdavinci** has hit the nail _right smack_ on the friggin head. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603/33 "2007-07-10T13:53:16Z")
J.J. Abrams wrote Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News. Here is what he said. > [@](#): > > Dear Sir, > > Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can’t wait to talk to you more about it – of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you’ll know more than I will. > > Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we’re doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn’t kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat’s about what’s online? So as you can imagine, we’re focusing mostly on THAT. For what it’s worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the [1-18-08.com](http://1-18-08.com) site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us. > > Stay cool the rest of the summer – and thanks per usual for AICN! > > JJ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trailer-without-a-title-that-ran-before-the-transformers-movie/410603.md?page=1)