Coming straight off the back of arguably the biggest film of 2015 (and now officially the most successful film in UK cinema history), Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams has shocked the world by announcing a sequel to his seminal found-footage monster film, Cloverfield – 10 Cloverfield Lane.

With absolutely no fanfare, pre-promotion or otherwise, Abrams has created 10 Cloverfield Lane in secret and the first trailer for the film premiered ahead of Michael Bay’s new 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi in cinemas, before later making its way online.

Starring John Goodman (Blues Brothers, Monsters Inc.), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Final Destination 3) and John Gallagher Jr. (TV’s The Newsroom), 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s trailer obviously doesn’t give too much away, in true Abrams style, however we do know that it pivots around Winstead’s character, who wakes up in a bunker to find out she is being held by a complete stranger, and that she can’t leave on account of some nuclear fall-out which has ended the world.

In a statement to Collider, Abrams explains:

“The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible.”

So, it’s clear that 10 Cloverfield Lane exists in the same universe as its 2008 predecessor, but does it take place before, during or after the events of the first film? We’ll most likely have to wait until its release to find out.

10 Cloverfield Lane hasn’t, of course, just popped up out of the ground, despite what our initial comment above may have led you to believe. While it’s true that we didn’t know this film was in any way, shape or form linked to Abrams and the Cloverfield brand prior to today, the film’s director Dan Trachtenberg has been working on what was previously thought to be a short film called Valencia (or The Cellar) for a while now, and star Winstead even spoke to IGN’s Eric Goldman about the film in an interview last year, where she revealed a few tidbits about co-star Goodman’s character:

It was really fun. It was really cool. Me and John Goodman stuck in a bunker together for two months. It was awesome! It was a really intense and really fun shoot. He was such an incredible actor to get to act opposite and he’s so perfect for the part because throughout the whole movie you’re wondering if he’s telling the truth, is he trustworthy, is he a nice guy, is he not a nice guy? And it really goes on a rollercoaster of thinking he’s definitely a horrible guy and then no, he’s just misunderstood. You’re really just on the ride with my character in terms of who she can trust in the scenario and if she’s safer with him or safer escaping and battling whatever war is happening or not happening outside. So it’s a pretty interesting one.

Want some even more good news in this story? 10 Cloverfield Lane won’t be released at the end of this year, or even sometime next year – you only have to wait three months (yes, you read that correctly!) to see this one, as it’ll be hitting a cinema screen near you on 8 April 2016. Consider us surprised, and excited.