10 Cloverfield Lane: 8 Reasons The Marketing Was Genius

8. It Expertly Delayed Hype

When Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice finally hits at the end of the month, it will have been thirty months since it was first announced at SDCC 2013. In stark contrast, we've known about 10 Cloverfield Lane for less than two. Well, sort of. Although much of the flapping coverage of the film would suggest otherwise, J.J. Abrams didn't produce a movie with a couple of big stars in complete secret; the spec script that evolved into the film (then called The Cellar) found its way online a few years back and, after Bad Robot brought up the screenplay, it was reported on briefly by the trades under the working title Valencia. However, we hadn't seen anything concrete outside of the basic "girl trapped in the cellar" plot until the trailer was released in mid-January. Putting aside all of the naming links and smart connections, this did one oblique thing; it concentrated all of the hype directly onto the time immediately pre-release, ensuring that when 10 Cloverfield Lane actually hit it was at maximum levels of anticipation. In more stark contrast, I have talked to people (admittedly people not tuned into cinema, but still) who think Batman V Superman has already come out - that the movie released on March 25th is "another one" - simply because it's been in the background for so long. Big blockbusters often peak too early, but 10 Cloverfield's Lane secrecy meant it crested at the right point without having to fork out for extensive additional campaigns.