J.J. Abrams’ New Sci-Fi Movie’s Potential Cloverfield Connection Gets Definitive Response

After months of rumors and speculation, J.J. Abrams finally revealed whether his new film, The End of Oak Street, is part of the Cloverfield franchise.

The End of Oak Street stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a married couple whose life is suddenly turned upside down when dinosaurs start roaming their neighborhood, and they do whatever they possibly can to protect themselves and their kids. Abrams serves as a producer on the film, which was directed and written by David Robert Mitchell.

Due to Abrams' role as a producer on the Cloverfield films, there's been a lot of talk on social media that The End of Oak Street, another sci-fi project, is secretly the newest installment in that franchise. However, the filmmaker put an end to the rumors in an interview with THR, saying definitely that the two properties are not connected.

Other than the fact that Mary Elizabeth Winstead, one of the stars of 10 Cloverfield Lane, is married to McGregor, "people are just making connections that they happen to see," according to Abrams.

"The only connection to our Cloverfield movies is that Ewan’s partner is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who was the star of 10 Cloverfield Lane, who we were very lucky to get to work with and who I adore. So there was that, but other than that, people are just making connections that they happen to see."

The first Cloverfield movie, directed by Matt Reeves, came out in 2008 and centers on New Yorkers attempting to survive the arrival of a monster threatening the city. Amid explosions and a power outage, Rob Hawkins and his friends set out to save his romantic interest, Beth McIntyre.

The sci-fi movie, which is told through the lens of found footage, grossed $172.3 million at the box office and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 78%. Cloverfield won Best Science Fiction Film at the Saturn Awards.

Eight years later, Paramount released 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is related to Cloverfield rather than a direct sequel. Winstead stars as a woman who wakes up in a bunker following a car crash, with John Goodman's character claiming that he saved her life.

Reviews were even more positive than the first film, with critics giving it a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score. At the box office, 10 Cloverfield Lane earned $110 million.

The most recent movie in the franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, was released on Netflix in 2018 and shows astronauts attempting to get back home after a shocking turn of events. Unlike its predecessors, it was widely panned by critics, earning a score of 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The End of Oak Street isn't the first film that's been speculated about as a possible Cloverfield project. Back in 2011, Abrams shot down rumors that Super 8 was connected to Cloverfield, and then he had to do the same thing all over again leading up to the release of Overlord in 2018.

Interestingly, A Quiet Place almost became a Cloverfield flick before Paramount stepped in and determined it should be a standalone story.

There is a Cloverfield sequel in development, so the speculation about The End of Oak Street makes sense. However, not much is actually known about the future of the sci-fi franchise, aside from the fact that Babak Anvari is directing and Joe Barton is writing the script, with Abrams back as a producer.

The End of Oak Street will be released in theaters on Friday, August 14, 2026.