Paramount has moved the release date for their “2017 Cloverfield Movie” (previously titled God Particle) back by more than three months to February 2, 2018, from October 27, 2017. This is the second time that they’ve moved it, after it was first pushed from February 24, 2017 to October 27, 2017.

Repeated moves like this typically aren’t a good sign for any film. It could be that the studio doesn’t really know what to do with it, or they are uncertain about how well it will be received, or how successful it might be. One move is typically OK, but 2 or more moves and it starts to be a concern. But still, we won’t know until the film is finally released and we see it.

This is the Cloverfield film that’s being directed by a black filmmaker, Julius Onah, and which stars black actors David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

It’s been in development for about 5 years now and it finally filmed last year.

It’s worth noting that Paramount is moving it to the first week of Black History Month 2018, lumping it together with Proud Mary (late January), Black Panther & Pacific Rim: Uprising (both in February) and Wrinkle in Time (first week of March). They may be hoping to capitalize on all the excitement around black faces on movie theater screens during that period.

When we last reported on the film, it was said to be one of Hollywood’s most buzzed-about “open directing assignments” (partly because there had been lots of secrecy around it, and J.J. Abrams had been attached to produce), the story (as we know it thus far) follows an American space station crew that’s abandoned after a problem with a Hadron accelerator causes Earth to completely vanish, challenging all they know about the fabric of reality, as they desperately fight for their survival.

Reports said God Particle would be connected to the Cloverfield universe, as Abrams and studio partner Paramount Pictures plan to continue to develop even more projects within that universe, released annually – at least until the exhaust it.

Joining Oyelowo and Mbatha-Raw are Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, Zhang Ziyi and Aksel Hennie.

Lindsey Weber will produce alongside Abrams, while Tommy Harper and Bob Dorhmann are executive producers.

It’s been in development for 2+ years (before Oyelowo and Mbatha-Raw became attached). It should help increase awareness of Onah’s name, within the industry, as well as among audiences.

Cloverfield

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