According to Variety, the as-yet untitled Cloverfield sequel, the third film in the sci-fi monster anthology – that may, or may not be called Cloverfield Station – might skip the cinema altogether and go straight to the Netflix in a deal with Paramount.

Following the surprise success of 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016, the next installment in the JJ Abrams-led series was set in motion under the working title God Particle. It’s believed that the story is about astronauts aboard a space station who, after an accident with a particle accelerator, discover that Earth has vanished, which is rumoured to be the story of the new movie. The plot thickens as the astronauts discover traces of another space station nearby.

Netflix previously made a deal with Paramount in December for the streaming service to handle the international release of Natalie Portman’s horror-thriller Annihilation.

Cloverfield 3 was initially pencilled in for February, before being moved back to April 20. If the deal does go through, it’s unknown whether the release date will remain the same on Netflix. For now, nothing is official, but it would certainly sit nicely with the current crop of quality, original sci-fi on Netflix, including the imminent Altered Carbon and Black Mirror.

The untitled Cloverfield sequel is directed by Julius Onah based on a script by Oren Uziel and Doug Jung. It stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie and Chris O’Dowd and is due out April 20, 2018.

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