From the L.A. Times:

As 15-year-old Joel Courtney, who has the largest role of any teen in the film, came to understand it: "‘E.T.’ kind of brings a little bit of sci-fi to it. ‘Goonies’ brings that group of kids to it. And ‘Jaws’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ brings that terror to it."

From Hollywood Outbreak:

Any aspiring young actor would kill for a chance to star in a movie. For Joel Courtney, who is only 15 years old, his dream came true. He currently stars in Super 8, which will be the number one film at the box office this weekend. The film was directed J.J. Abrams and produced by iconic director Steven Spielberg. Not bad to work with two of the most creative people in Hollywood. Courtney told Hollywoodoutbreak.com that it was a blast to work with them both, and that he loves Spielberg’s classic movies and Abrams’ films as well. 

From MTV Movie Blogs:

I know not all the film fans of the world are as nerdy about film scores as I am, but hopefully you'll trust me when I say that the score for J.J. Abrams' mystery-thriller "Super 8" is everything you would want backing a fantastical, Spielbergian, must-see summer movie.

If you don't want to take my word for it, allow me to introduce Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino, who took us through the nuts and bolts of how he came up with such a wonderfully unique and tintinnabular creation.

"A lot of it comes out of my childhood," Giacchino said of how he began crafting the film's score. "I grew up making super 8 films, that's all I did growing up, my whole life was devoted to making movies."

"Aside from all the craziness in the film, that was my life with the kids in my neighborhood, so to me it was this huge nostalgic trip back to my past," he added. "This film feels, in some weird way, like one of those movies I grew up with and yet it's not one of them. It's still its own thing."

QMx To Develop Super 8 Replicas, Maquettes and Collectibles

Quantum Mechanix Inc. (QMx) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures to develop and market a full line of collectibles based on the hit movie, Super 8.

Written and directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, Super 8 tells the story of a group of friends who, in the summer of 1979, witness a catastrophic train crash while filming a Super 8 movie. They soon come to suspect that the crash was not an accident, as unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in their small Ohio town.

QMx’s Super 8 license includes screen-accurate prop replicas, character maquettes, posters, apparel and novelties. The company is already hard at work on several products and will have prototypes on display at the QMx booth (#2944, #2950) at Comic-Con International 2011 San Diego in July.