8 Movies That Blurred The Line Between Our World And Theirs

Cloverfield's reveal was shrouded in mystery. The first teaser appeared before a screening of Michael Bay's Transformers, showing the now-iconic shot of Lady Liberty's head hitting the streets of New York before giving audiences a release date. No title, just a release date.

This date was integral for fans to begin the process of tumbling down the rabbit hole. Going to 1-18-08.com presented internet sleuths with clues to decipher by applying the timestamps on the site to the trailer footage. After that, other sites began popping up. One was dedicated to Slusho, a drinks brand that has now become a staple in J.J. Abrams' work, as well as a convincing site for a Japanese fracking company named Tagurato. The clues seemed disparate but the fun was trying to piece them together cohesively.

Blogs soon began appearing, from a password-protected personal blog helmed by the movie's main character to one devoted to decrying the unethical actions of the aforementioned Tagurato. Myspace pages (remember those!) were also created for the characters, with their posts serving not only to pepper more clues but also expand on plot elements that wouldn't otherwise be addressed in the movie. This was external world-building on an unprecedented scale.