While the internet has been filled with fan theories around the new sci-fi adventure The End of Oak Street, producer J.J. Abrams is quick to cut some of them down.
The film, directed by David Robert Mitchell, follows a family (led by Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor) whose suburban street is suddenly uprooted and lands among the dinosaurs in prehistoric times. In the lead-up to its release, some online have speculated that the movie is secretly connected to Abrams’ Cloverfield franchise. However, the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter at the L.A. premiere that this was not the case.
“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,” Abrams said. “So there was that, but other than that, people are just making connections that they happen to see.”
The producer also explained the decision to take on a dinosaur genre that has long been dominated by the Jurassic Park franchise, saying, “This was a movie set in suburban America — our neighborhoods, our backyards, our living rooms — so to have dinosaurs in that world, in our world, there was a juxtaposition that was so immediately exciting. It wasn’t just cool dinosaurs; it was dinosaurs interacting with things and people and our front lawn, and suddenly it was a very different experience even reading it.”
Aside from his day job, Abrams is also dad to pop star Gracie Abrams, who will soon be making her acting debut in an A24 movie from Babygirl director Halina Reijn. Of his daughter crossing over to join his side of the industry, the filmmaker said, “I know how hard she’s working to do all she’s doing so I’m thrilled for her. As a parent, all you can do is hope that the work that your kids do fulfills them, so as long as that’s what’s happening, and I know how hard she’s working, I’m thrilled for her.”
The End of Oak Street hits theaters on Friday.
