Andrew Patterson Reveals He Passed on Directing a New ‘Cloverfield’ Movie, Here’s Why

Andrew Patterson has built one of the more unusual paths to Hollywood success in recent memory, going from self-taught Oklahoma filmmaker to acclaimed indie director almost entirely outside the traditional studio system. His 2019 debut, ‘The Vast of Night,’ turned heads with its hypnotic, dialogue-driven approach to 1950s sci-fi mystery, made on a budget of just $700,000 before Amazon Studios picked it up for wider release.

That breakout success naturally opened doors to bigger opportunities, the kind most independent filmmakers spend careers chasing. As Patterson has continued promoting his sophomore feature, ‘The Rivals of Amziah King,’ starring Matthew McConaughey and Kurt Russell, he’s been candid about the various paths his career could have taken since ‘The Vast of Night’ first put him on the map.

One of those paths, according to Patterson, involved a new ‘Cloverfield‘ movie. Speaking with TheWrap, the filmmaker revealed he was in talks to direct a new entry in the found-footage monster franchise but ultimately passed on the opportunity, citing concerns about what he anticipated would be a long, drawn-out development process.

That decision offers a rare glimpse into just how many established franchise opportunities filter through acclaimed indie filmmakers before those projects eventually land elsewhere. In this case, the ‘Cloverfield’ sequel ultimately went to director Babak Anvari, who has been publicly attached to the project since it was first announced in September 2022, with Joe Barton writing the script and J.J. Abrams producing through Bad Robot.

Patterson’s instincts about the project’s pace appear to have been well-founded. Despite Anvari’s attachment being confirmed nearly four years ago, no concrete updates about the sequel have surfaced since, and Anvari himself has remained tight-lipped about the project’s status in the rare instances he’s addressed it publicly, generally reassuring fans it remains alive without offering specifics.

That kind of prolonged silence tracks with the franchise’s overall history. Every ‘Cloverfield’ film to date, from Matt Reeves’ 2008 original through Dan Trachtenberg’s ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ and Julius Onah’s ‘The Cloverfield Paradox,’ has followed a famously secretive, unpredictable release pattern built around surprise reveals rather than traditional promotional rollouts.

For a filmmaker like Patterson, whose entire creative identity has been built around independence and control over his own material, walking away from a project defined by that kind of extended studio uncertainty tracks with the deliberate, self-directed path he’s taken since ‘The Vast of Night’ first premiered at Slamdance in 2019.

Rather than committing to franchise work, Patterson instead spent years developing ‘The Rivals of Amziah King,’ a genre-blending Oklahoma-set story mixing bluegrass music, beekeeping, and crime thriller elements, marking his first film since ‘The Vast of Night’ and reuniting him with cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz. The film ultimately drew McConaughey back to live-action acting after a five-year hiatus, suggesting Patterson’s instinct to prioritize original, character-driven storytelling over established IP has continued paying off.

Given how many years have now passed without meaningful public movement on the new ‘Cloverfield’ film, Patterson’s decision to step away looks increasingly reasonable in hindsight, even as fans continue waiting for any concrete update on the long-gestating sequel.

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