VIRAL NEWS
J.J. Abrams' Next New Super Top Secret Project: 500 Rads?
by Alex Billington
November 4, 2009
Source: Pajiba
Can you remember back to July 3rd, 2007? You were probably sitting in a theater, and some random trailer started playing that had footage from a surprise birthday party for some guy named Rob. That was the start of Cloverfield. They hadn't even shot any real footage, it was a super secret project, and that first trailer captured everyone's interest. Jump ahead a few years and now J.J. Abrams is done with Star Trek. We don't yet know if he's directing the sequel and his go-to guys from Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, Drew Goddard) are both off doing other projects. So could he be working on another secret project? One called 500 Rads?
Pajiba (via SlashFilm) claims to have some information regarding this secret project. "J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, are secretly developing a movie called 500 Rads." They go on to say the budget is supposedly around $25 million (Cloverfield was also made for $25 million) and that it'll be shooting in Europe (most likely to help maintain secrecy and cut costs). It's apparently based on an outline written by J.J. Abrams and was being scripted by Jeff Pinkner (who has worked on "Alias", "Lost", and "Fringe"). Now that Pinkner is heading back to "Fringe," though, they need another writer to finish it up.
So what is it about? Well, first off, Pajiba also said "we do know that it's a movie in the vein of both Cloverfield and 28 Days Later." Hmm, so maybe a zombie invasion movie, shot like Cloverfield? In regards to the title 500 Rads, which may or may not just be a codename for something else, the term rads stands for "absorbed radiation doses", as in how much radiation your body would absorb if you were to walk into a nuclear reactor. And speaking of which, according to Wikipedia, 500 rads is enough to kill a human male, or at least make them sterile. So far this could mean anything - zombies, mutants, hell, even King Kong.
Brendon over at SlashFilm thinks it might have something to do with "fertility sci-fi, ala Children of Men." That's possible, but I also think it could either have something to do with zombies or undead, or it could have something to do with a mutant creature, kind of like Cloverfield. Hell, it could even be the Cloverfield sequel, under a different title with a different concept, and they're just trying to keep everything a secret. I'm not really sure, but my interest is already piqued. Following Cloverfield from start to finish was a wild ride and I can't wait to find out what 500 Rads is all about. Well, that is as long as the project actually exists!
Reader Feedback - 30 Comments
1
sounds sweet
Doug on Nov 4, 2009
2
i give up sounds interesting though
mariah heinlen on Nov 4, 2009
3
sounds very...........rad 🙂
Spider94 on Nov 4, 2009
4
I'm interested already.
Robbie on Nov 4, 2009
6
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esophus on Nov 4, 2009
7
How about the Fallout movie? Rads certainly play a part in the latest game. Could be a codename for it.
Necrothug on Nov 4, 2009
8
WELL!!!!! how exciting!!!! a sequel to that festering pile of sh*t Cloverfield. The gods are smiling upon us. I am sure St. JJ has had ample time to make this next project reek on a cosmic level. Save us!!!!
Joboo on Nov 4, 2009
9
Or it could be 500 different shots of a kid riding his bike over a ramp he built with two cinder blocks and a piece of wood. That would be rad.
whomever on Nov 4, 2009
10
how the hell is this top secret.
darrin on Nov 4, 2009
11
If it's zombies, consider my interest lost.
Meh on Nov 4, 2009
12
#3: that was an awful joke. #8: Cloverfield was cool; it had great acting, fantastic effects and a cool plot line. #10: because all this tells us about the project is nothing, that's how. #11: Zombies can still be cool if they're done the right way. I'm psyched about this. i like J.J's other stuff up to this point, at least he's trying to put some of the mystique back into movie making.
Marc on Nov 4, 2009
13
I loved Cloverfield. Would love to see a follow up.
JimD on Nov 4, 2009
14
Eff that shit! He better not take on a new top secret project. >=O He said once LOST is done, they're finally gonna start working on the Dark Tower movies. Pleeeease J.J. ... *lip quiver*
SuicidalOptimist on Nov 4, 2009
15
Cloverfield had great acting? God help us all.
SlashBeast on Nov 5, 2009
16
Well, this rings the bells of Fallout3 in my head. when I saw "RADS" thats is the first title that comes to mind... would be cool but I'm just wishing for something that may never get made as a movie.
JayC on Nov 5, 2009
17
Well, I dont know about this movie but i do have an interesting tidbit since you mentioned the cloverfield sequel: I worked at a VFX studio in Vancouver Canada that is bidding on a few big shows, the cloverfield sequel being one of them, the interesting thing is that the person in charge of the bidding process referred to Battle of Los Angeles as the cloverfield sequel... Could've been a mistake but I don't think it was. Also McG's 20,000 leages will have lost of shots in an island full of cannibals and exploding volcanoes and Clint Eastwood is working on a tsunami movie for his next project. Cheers!
anon on Nov 5, 2009
18
don't you remember the explosion at the end of cloverfield movie?
jul on Nov 8, 2009
19
The sat or beast falling down from the sky at the end ???
what about.... on Nov 14, 2009
20
WELL!!!!! how exciting!!!! a sequel to that festering pile of sh*t Cloverfield. The gods are smiling upon us. I am sure St. JJ has had ample time to make this next project reek on a cosmic level.
Top Movies on Feb 6, 2010
21
Now now, Colverfield was an ok movie. It atleast tried to do something different other than hire an A list star, copy some older movie and release it.
Energy on Feb 11, 2010
23
Cloverfield was a great movie, although there were a couple of times when the "camera work" if you can call it that, made me want to vomit. Otherwise, as I said, I really did enjoy it.
Weekend Movie Showings on Apr 27, 2010
24
Super top secret project? I still choose clover field over it. Kudos to the clover field buddies here.
RonLey on Apr 27, 2010
25
I hope its more crazy mutated creatures than zombies. There needs to be a bit of a break from zombies imo.
clark on Jun 29, 2010
29
I never understood until the end of what’s written here, because I are not aware of English so well. You’ll be able to write it more sort?
diet on Nov 23, 2010
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