J.J. Abrams
Director J.J. Abrams, pictured here at the 16th Annual AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2015, announced that his new movie "10 Cloverfield Lane" will exist in the same world as the 2008 film "Cloverfield." Getty

Although your average director would still be content to ride the massive wave of success that is “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” director J.J. Abrams has yet another treat in store for the movie going public. It has been revealed that the ultra secret post-apocalypse drama he’s been working on is actually a follow up of sorts to his 2008 found footage monster movie “Cloverfield.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, the reveal came first to all those that went to screenings of Michael Bay’s “13 Hours” on Jan. 14. The first trailer for the film, “10 Cloverfield Lane,” dropped ahead of the movie, revealing to all that the film would share some common DNA with the original film. Set for a release in just two months on March 11, the film stars John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. It’s worth mentioning that, although Abrams says it takes place in the “Cloverfield” universe, that doesn’t mean the film will be a found-footage saga or a direct sequel.

“The idea came up a long time ago during production,” a statement from the director’s representative said (via HitFix). “We wanted to make it a blood relative of ‘Cloverfield.’ The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the trailer for as long as possible.”

According to a synopsis posted by The Wrap, the film will mostly be about the dynamic between survivors in a fallout shelter of some kind. When a woman wakes up from a car accident to find she’s been taken by a survivalist, she worries that she cannot believe his story about a chemical attack leaving the outside world uninhabitable. Not sure who she can and cannot trust, she decides her only option is to attempt a daring escape, no matter what happens to be outside.

The synopsis echoes details that Winstead previously shared with Collider about the movie, prior to the reveal that it will exist within the same film world as “Cloverfield.”

For those that need a refresher on the 2008 movie, it focuses on a group of friends in New York City whose party is interrupted when a giant monster begins to terrorize Manhattan. The film ends with the military apparently taking a nuclear option to destroy the creature, which may or may not factor into the apocalypse outside the shelter in “10 Cloverfield Lane.” Fans will just have wait until March 11 to have all their burning questions answered.

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