It’s almost like there’s a competition between JJ Abrams and Christopher Nolan about who can be most secretive, so we know almost nothing about their films until they arrive in cinemas. This year we’ve got Abrams Super 8, which we’ve had an emigmatic teaser trailer for, but there’s been little more info on it other than that Steven Spielberg will produce, it’ll go for a tone reminscent of his films in the 70s and 80s, and will probably have kids unwittingly capturing something unexpected on a Super 8 camera.
However now we’ve got a little more info, as a Super Bowl TV spot has arrived, which gives us more footage from the movie and really sells the Spielberg vibe. Indeed some of the shots even deliberately mimic famous ones from ET and Close Encounters.
Abrams also did a tie-in interview with the LA Times, in which he finally revealed more info. He says, To me, all people need to know is that its an adventure about a small town and its funny, its sweet, its scary and theres a mystery: What is this thing that has escaped? What are the ramifications of its presence? And what is the effect on people? But I know thats not enough. Look, I feel we need a little bit of a coming-out party because we are up against massive franchises and brands and most people dont know what Super 8? means. Were a complete anomaly in a summer of huge films and we dont want to be so silent or coy that people dont care or dont hear about it. So it sounds like he’s realised he can’t be as secretive about this one as he was about Cloverfield.
The article also reveals that the film ‘is set in Ohio in 1979 and introduces a troupe of six youngsters who are using a Super 8 camera to make their own zombie movie. One fateful night, their project takes them to a lonely stretch of rural railroad tracks and, as the camera rolls, calamity strikes a truck collides with an oncoming locomotive and a hellacious derailment fills the night with screaming metal and raining fire. Then something emerges from the wreckage, something decidedly inhuman.’
The movie apparently started off as two different films, which ended up being combined. One was a Stand By Me-style coming of age flick about kids making Super 8 movies in the late-1970s, while the other was about the US government getting paranoid and shipping all their Area 51 secrets to another location, only for one of the trains not to reach its final destination. Expect to hear more about Super 8 soon, before it reaches cinemas in May, but click below for the Super Bowl ad.