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Daniel Brühl weighs in on the surprise release of The Cloverfield Paradox

By Pramit Chatterjee

BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 19: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Daniel Bruehl attends the '7 Days in Entebbe' (7 Tage in Entebbe) premiere during the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Berlinale Palast on February 19, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 19: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Daniel Bruehl attends the '7 Days in Entebbe' (7 Tage in Entebbe) premiere during the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Berlinale Palast on February 19, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images) /
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The latest installment in the Cloverfield series received a sudden Netflix release and Daniel Brühl thinks this process will have an effect on future Hollywood movies.

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Ever since its inception, the marketing strategy for the Cloverfield series has been secretive in order to emulate the mystery of the individual installments. While Cloverfield was popularized through viral campaigns, 10 Cloverfield Lane tied in with fake beverage companies to hint at its release. However, it was The Cloverfield Paradox that took things to another level by launching its trailer moments before the movie’s Netflix release. As big-budget movies haven’t been released in this manner before, Daniel Brühl expects that this revolutionary move will have some large-scale repercussions.

The Cloverfield Paradox originally began its journey under the name of The God Particle, which was based on a script by Oren Uziel. It was then bought by Paramount and J. J. Abrams, and the story of a few astronauts in space was converted into a Cloverfield movie. What followed after was a lot of delays due to re-shoots as it had to fit the over-arching narrative of the Cloververse, leading to a movie that failed to stand on its own or be a great addition to the franchise.

Cloverfield Paradox
Photo credit Cloverfield Paradox via Netflix Media Center /

So, although it was evident that The Cloverfield Paradox was sent to Netflix because of its quality, Brühl told Screenrant that it’ll open opportunities for indie movies to approach the streaming network and reach a wider audience.

"“Well I was surprised [laughs] like everybody else. Yeah, we were told, but only actually a couple of moments before it happened. But I guess that’s something that [production company] Bad Robot likes to do, is to keep surprising the people. And this is something that probably will happen more and more in the future, that there will be different ways in releasing films and dealing with films. If that means that for certain films it can be better because you reach a wider audience, then I think it’s – y’know, fair enough. But again it was really a huge surprise on a Sunday or a Saturday, I was like ‘Wow, that’s gonna happen – interesting.'”"

In the era of Rotten Tomatoes, Imdb ratings and early releases, movies are judged way before audiences around the world get to see it in theaters. And since this trend of depending on critical reviews has reached its peak, The Cloverfield Paradox‘s style of release managed to cut off the middle-man and allowed viewers to watch the movie free of any pre-conceived notions. However, as it turned out to be poorly received and was followed by another critically berated movie by Duncan Jones, The Cloverfield Paradox might’ve made Netflix the latest version of the direct-to-DVD format.

What are the pros and cons of releasing big-budget movies on Netflix?

Although the film industry has been operative for decades, it’s yet to perfect the process of getting films released. As production houses hold a certain degree of monopoly on which scripts are turned into films, and since theaters are the conventional format of viewing, little-known filmmakers have a hard time getting their projects off the ground. However, if famous directors like Bong Joon-Ho and Cary Fukunaga gravitate towards Netflix, indie directors can avoid the difficult process of a theatrical release and shift their focus to this comparatively accessible medium for movies.

Mute Official Trailer
Photo Credit: Mute/Netflix Image Acquired from Netflix Media Center /

However, with movies like Bright, Mute, Death Note, The Outsider, War Machine and any Adam Sandler flick, Netflix has become the ultimate dumping ground for products that won’t make its money back if released theatrically. Other films like The Cloverfield Paradox and Annihilation also doesn’t reflect well on the sci-fi genre because it shows how studios aren’t willing to invest in promoting projects that are unorthodox. And if this goes on for a few more years, Netflix runs the risk of alienating its audience and sending independent and free-thinking directors, screenwriters and story-tellers to the done-to-death process of releasing movies.

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Netflix’s brand value is not dependent on movies alone as it does a fairly successful job at producing quality TV shows like Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Daredevil and many more. However, if the name of the streaming network becomes synonymous to poorly made products that were unable to get a theatrical release, there’s a possibility that show-runners will stray away from Netflix as well. And in order to avoid such a thing from happening in the future, the higher-ups of Netflix should demand good movies and look into it with precision before spending millions of dollars.

What are your thoughts on direct-to-Netflix movie releases?

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