A new two-picture deal with Universal means we’re getting two more original films from M Night Shyamalan.
M Night Shyamalan is to continue his fruitful union with Universal Pictures, that’s seen the writer-director generate three hit movies in a row.
The relationship started with The Visit, before the double bill of Split and Glass. All three were made for relatively modest budgets, and all three turned into sizeable hits. It’s moved Shyamalan to a point where he can finance his own films, and deal with Universal as a distribution partner. And that also buys him the autonomy to make standalone original films.
Which is what he fully intends to do. In an official announcement statement, the filmmaker said that “there are wonderful studios out there, but Universal has made it a mandate to release original films. They are the best at finding an audience for new stories with unexpected tones. I believe original films are crucial to the longevity of the theatrical experience”.
Universal, for its part, is happy too. “There is no one like him”, its president, Peter Cramer, said. “He is a master filmmaker working at the height of his powers, and we are honoured that he has once again chosen Universal to be the home for his next two incredible projects”.
He spelt ‘honoured’ the American way in his statement, so we’ve thoughtfully corrected him.
The two films have release dates marked too. The first lands on February 26th 2021, and the next on February 17th 2023. No idea what the films are, or whether they’re related and linked in any way. We’ll find out in due course…
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