Watch the trailer

Try to make something of this: a film with no name, a drink called Slusho, the code word ‘Cloverfield,’ and the date January 18, 2008.

There you go, you’ve just joined a growing number of film obsessives, Lost devotees and web geeks in trying to figure out just what Lost creator J.J. Abrams is playing at.

Abrams, you see, is producing a film, but refusing to release any details of said film. Instead he’s dancing with the dark art of viral marketing.

It began with a mysterious trailer, played in theatres before the Transformers movie. The footage was amateur, the content disturbing. Happy twenty-something New Yorkers are in the midst of a surprise party when the guttural roar of an unidentified creature disturbs the peace. Next thing, the ground is shaking, and parts of the city’s famous skyline are alight. The Statue of Liberty’s head goes flying through the night sky, landing at the feet of startled, scurrying civilians. No movie title accompanied the trailer, only a date: 18.01.08.

Paramount Pictures, the studio financing the film, refused to give further details. Even the movie’s actors are feeling about in the dark. The casting process was reportedly so mysterious that the film house refused to send scripts to potential actors. Agents were simply contacted and asked if their client wanted a part or not. A bunch of virtual unknowns - Michael Stahl-David, Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel and Lizzy Caplan - agreed to the odd terms.

Of course, film buffs pride themselves on knowing all, Lost devotees are in need of a new mystery, and web geeks love a challenge, thus the internet went wild. Theories and counter-theories, clues and rumours abound.

Apparently the project is known by the code name ‘Cloverfield’. But then it could be known by the code name ‘Slusho’. It may be linked to slusho.jp, the peculiar website of a Japanese drink, but there could just as well be clues on the bewildering EthanHaasWasRight.com.

In other words no-one knows anything. But that doesn’t stop plenty of people thinking they do. Some figure it’s simply Lost taken to the big screen. Others predict a Godzilla flick.

Such confusion. But could we expect any less of Abrams? He is, after all, the man who created the most baffling TV series since Twin Peaks.

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• London Film Festival

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010