Spielberg and J.J. Abrams join forces for Super 8

07 May 2010

John Howell

At screenings of Iron Man 2 in the US a 90 second teaser trailer is being shown for Super 8, a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, two of the biggest names in science fiction films. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Super 8 is based on Abrams and Spielberg's childhood experiences experimenting with Super 8 film equipment. As with many big budget Hollywood productions, the plot is a closely guarded secret (not as closely guarded as the next version of Apple's iPad of course, but still pretty close). Spielberg and Abrams have given little away, apart from saying it will deal with kids playing around in 1979 with Super 8 movie cameras and accidentally capturing something frightening on film. Instead they are letting the images in the trailer speak for them. Abrams described the new film as a "tribute" to Spielberg classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws.

From reports on the web it appears the trailer reveals that the film's focus will be on something being shipped aboard a train from Nevada's infamous Area 51 to a secure facility. The involvement of an alien monster (or force) is a strong possibility (although nothing is certain!).

Super 8 has no connection with Abrams' Cloverfield (it was rumoured that the trailer would be for Cloverfield 2) and will be shot traditionally (not hand-held like Cloverfield). Abrams will direct the new movie based on his screenplay and Spielberg will produce. They're aiming for a 2011 release date.

Super 8 is an Amblin and Bad Robot production and will be the next film for Abrams, ahead of Star Trek 2, which is expected June 29, 2012. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof are still working on Star Trek 2's screenplay.

Spielberg and Abrams working together is more than enough to get me into the cinema. Given Spielberg's recent tendency to tag on happy endings (Minority Report, etc.) or create ridiculous plots that may as well be B grade cartoons (think Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) perhaps Abrams can provide some film making balance.

If you've been lucky enough to have watched the Super 8 trailer in the US, let us know what it was like and what you think. We'll post a link to the trailer as soon as we can find a reliable source.

UPDATE!
A high resolution version of Spielberg's and Abrams' Super 8 teaser trailer is now available on Apple's website here.

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