“Giri/Haji” and “The Lazarus Project” writer Joe Barton found his name attached to several high-profile projects in recent years.
One is the upcoming J.J. Abrams-produced fourth “Cloverfield” feature which he wrote. Another was the now-retooled Gotham City Police Department series for HBO Max, the latter now reconceived as an Arkham Asylum series.
Most recently, he created the series adaptation of Sally Green’s young adult novel series “The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself” which premiered this past Friday on Netflix. The story there follows a young witch whose father is considered the most dangerous magical being on Earth.
Speaking with Variety recently, he offered an update on how the new “Cloverfield” is going:
“I’m writing it on my own, JJ is a producer on it. So I go away and do my drafts, and then he gives notes and the Bad Robot execs give notes, and then he’ll jump in occasionally and look at drafts and stuff.
I imagine probably the next one, because Babak Anvari just came on to direct, so we’re getting closer to production. I’m doing some revisions at the moment and the hope would be that this would be the last sort of big script push, and then we get on to actually making it.
I feel very positive about the creative [on the ‘Cloverfield’ sequel], I think what we’re gonna do with it is going to be really good. If I didn’t think we had a good idea, I didn’t actually think it was gonna be good, then I’d be worried. But I am really excited about the potential for what we’re doing… and particularly the story that we came up with.”
Barton also co-wrote the Riz Ahmed-led “Encounter” and 2017’s acclaimed folk horror feature “The Ritual”.
