M. Night Shyamalan is Happening

M. Night Shyamalan (shah-MAH-lawn) is quite a storyteller, there's no doubt. The man struck box-office gold with his massive worldwide smash The Sixth Sense which he both wrote and directed.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

1999's The Sixth Sense really put him on the map in a big way. One of only four horror movies ever to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, its worldwide box office takings were close to $680million. The following year it was the most rented VHS/DVD title in the world with over 80 million people who missed it at the movies getting gobsmacked by the twist ending in the comfort of their own home.

His next project, Unbreakable, was a modest success but never really took off the way it was intended. Planned as the prequel to either two or three films, this was the part of the overall story arc in which both the hero and villain characters are really given a solid, massive back-story. A movies worth of back-story in fact.

Unbreakable (2000)

Starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, it was a superhero movie aimed at people who don't want lycra costumes and one-liners, but are very interested in character development and story. The sequel to the film would finally show the big good vs evil showdown.

Only it never did quite well enough to warrant that sequel. As a result Unbreakable is a great movie, but suffers from essentially half a story.

Signs(2002) saw Disney pay Shyamalan the highest amount Hollywood has given to a scriptwriter, with a cool $5million about his story of a farm-living family discovering crop circles on their property and, eventually, aliens. It was a popular film starring names like Mel Gibson and a then not-so-famous Joaquin Phoenix.

Signs (2002)

Then things went kind of strange for the director. People started to get a little suspect of his films and their "twist" endings. After all, a twist works best when you aren't expecting it and the twists present in films after The Sixth Sense were gradually downgrading in quality. Still good, but not quite as much of a "wow effect" as audiences had hoped.

Maybe he had just used up his best ideas.

The Village (2004) divided audiences who either loved the film, or ended up angry. The Village told a story about members of a close-knit village who cannot enter the woods surrounding their community in fear of dangerous creatures.

The Village (2004)

Perhaps it was due to the studio's methods of mis-marketing the film, but people went into it expecting a tight horror/thriller and were left with something that tried to be a little too clever for its own good. That, however, was a rip-roaring success compared to his follow up, the complete dud that was Lady In The Water (2006).

Having a very public row with Disney, who wanted changes in the script, Shyalaman took his script to Warner Bros. who were too happy to let him film it according to his original vision. Based on a short story Shyamalan used to read to his children, and starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard, the film was a failure - both commercially and critically - only scoring a measly 24% on RottenTomatoes.com

Previous rumours of Shyamalan's monterous ego and arrogance seemed proven by the film, again written and directed by Shyamalan, which was about a water nypmph, or 'narf', called "Story" (Howard).

Lady In The Water (2006)

Story visits a stuttering apartment property manager Cleveland (Giamatti) and they discover that he must do everything he can to help Story find a writer, so that she can inspire him to create a world-changing novel. A novel so revolutionary and important that the writer will eventually be assassinated and never be able to see the world-changing effects his incredible work will have on mankind.

The films writer, M. Night Shyamalan, plays the part in the film of the world-changing writer. Egomaniac.

Which now leads us to his latest film The Happening. Currently in post-production and scheduled for release sometime this year, The Happening has had precious little released about it other than the trailer, the cast (Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo) and a basic synopsis - that it's an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller about a family on the run from a massive threat to humanity.

The Happening (2008)

Let's hope he can climb back after his recent misses. Supposedly he has dropped his ego a little bit after the misfire of Lady In The Water and this new film could be his chance to reclaim his place on the Hollywood map and get things back on track.

As long as the "twist" isn't that the apocalyptic event isn't global warming - or that it's all a dream - then I think this new project could really have some potential to deliver the quality that everyone knows M. Night Shyamalan is capable of producing. It looks terrific.



Anyone else keen to see The Happening? Or has Shyamalan tested your patience one too many times? Let me know.