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Back in early 2023, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan told Collider, “I have three movie ideas. I even have the structure of all three to some extent. And so it’s a very weird and interesting situation I’m feeling. I wish I could tell them faster. I wish I could get there faster, but there is no shortcut. I have to spend the six to nine months to write it. I have to storyboard for three months, and then we have pre-production, and then shooting it, and edit for as long as I can get every single second.“ Soon after, it was announced that he had secured a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. – and he immediately went to work on his recent thriller Trap. Now that Trap has made its way out into the world, it’s time for Shyamalan to start putting the second of those three movie ideas he said he had,...

This M. Night Shyamalan article contains spoilers.

You are currently in the middle of the Shyamalanaissance, which is not some kind of B-movie supernatural occurrence, but the return of M. Night Shyamalan to the forefront of filmmaking. After a few big budget flops, this cult-favorite director went back to his low-budget roots for the 2015 found-footage film The Visit, an excellent thriller with a twist that will undoubtedly remind movie viewers of his earlier thriller masterpieces, such as The Sixth Sense and Signs. Since then, Shyamalan has released the surprising slasher film Split and the Unbreakable superhero sequel, Glass, twisty horrors based on books Knock at the Cabin and Old, as well as serial killer thriller Trap.

Not many directors boast as many memorable screen moments as Shyamalan and fewer still continue to put out such consistently enjoyable work after so many years of captivating audiences. Some might say that The Sixth Sense was peak Shyamalan,...

Film directors acting in the films they make is neither rare nor new. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were doing it during the silent era, and as more artists like Orson Wells, Ida Lupino, John Cassavetes, and now Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper got into the act (literally), it's hardly surprising for audiences to see a movie written by, directed by, and starring the same person.

However, there also exists the parallel concept of the director's cameo, which is distinguished from the acting directors because the concept of a cameo itself is an elastic idea — ranging from a brief, non-verbal appearance to an entire supporting role. Unlike a filmmaker playing the lead or a co-lead in their own feature, a director making a cameo appearance in their own film tends to have a meta aspect to it: they know you know who they are, so their appearance in and of...

Few directors inspire more ire than M. Night Shyamalan. Famed for his twists and turns, Shyamalan’s meteoric rise can only be matched by his shocking fall. There was a moment when he was framed as the next Steven Spielberg. Unfortunately, a string of poor movies left many unwilling to engage with his future hits. Whether he’s inconsistent or very particular, Shyamalan has survived in Hollywood, with Trap becoming movie number 16 in his storied career. We’re ranking his movies with Trap‘s release, and helping put your expectations in check.

16. The Last Airbender (2010)

One of the most frustrating blockbusters of the last thirty years, Shyamalan proved the wrong choice from the jump. He tried to put his stamp on the series, and failed in pretty much every way. Poor visuals and poor acting (aside from Asiv Mandvi & Dev Patel) killed any chance of a franchise. Beyond that, the...

On a humid and muggy evening in New York City’s Soho neighborhood, filmmaker and genre maestro M. Night Shyamalan seems particularly giddy while standing in front of a room of assorted press. A major reason is probably that tonight is also the birthday of his leading man and collaborator, Josh Hartnett. The pair apparently have plans for a nice dinner upstairs. However, he also seems genuinely curious to see what a group of journalists are going to think about his and Hartnett’s latest movie, Trap—a serial killer thriller told from the point-of-view of the killer.

According to Shyamalan, it felt just like the type of movies he and his contemporaries made in the 1990s, although we can attest there has never quite been a serial killer movie like this. Not only is Hartnett’s deceptively affable Cooper a predatory wolf in sheep’s clothing, but he’s...

As a guy from Philadelphia, I've always felt a kinship with M. Night Shyamalan. The filmmaker who made plot twists hip again is a Philly guy, and a large chunk of his movies are set in the City of Brotherly Love. As a result, when I watch an M. Night movie, I often spot locations that are overly familiar to me. This turns me into the "pointing Leo" meme, and I sit up, point at the screen, and say "Hey, I know where that is!" It's like a little treat. But beyond Shyamalan's penchant for using Philadelphia as a setting, I also just really enjoy his films. I'm proud to say that I stuck with the filmmaker while others turned on him, and I was thrilled when he began what is considered his big comeback starting with "The Visit" and continuing with "Split." After being written off by many critics and moviegoers,...

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is back with yet another thriller on his hands with the Josh Hartnett starrer Trap. The filmmaker is known for his sci-fi thrillers and psychological mysteries, with a trademark twist ending that changes the whole film. He has been successful in films such as The Sixth Sense, The Visit, Signs, and Split.

Shyamalan has collaborated with actor Bruce Willis in multiple films, including his superhero/horror franchise Unbreakable. The two joined hands for the first time in the horror film The Sixth Sense which was a huge blockbuster establishing Shyamalan as a leading director. The filmmaker recalled an incident where Bruce Willis gave him a legendary compliment.

Bruce Willis’ Wonderful Compliment To M. Night Shyamalan Which He Will Never Forget M. Night Shyamalan in Unbreakable

Bruce Willis was at his peak in the ‘90s as he had come off of his legendary role in the sitcom...

M. Night Shyamalan's iconic "I see dead people" scene in The Sixth Sense almost didn't happen due to producer concerns. A producer felt the line was too revealing, but test audiences didn't deduce the big twist, leading to the scene remaining. Changing the scene could have altered the movie's impact, as it helped the audience understand Cole better without spoiling the major twist.

M. Night Shyamalan has become best known for the shocking reveals and plot twists in his movies, but his most shocking and famous reveal almost didn’t happen. M. Night Shyamalan has become one of the most popular but also divisive filmmakers of his generation, though there’s still a lot of anticipation around his projects every time he announces a new one. Shyamalan’s trademark are supernatural plots and big reveals that often lead to plot twists, usually during the third act of the story,...

Two upcoming horror movies will create a friendly box office rivalry between two Shyamalan directors. While M. Night Shyamalan has been celebrated for his classic horror films such as Signs (2002), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), and Split (2016), his daughter Ishana Shyamalan will be making her feature film directorial debut with The Watchers. A graduate of New York University, Ishana previously directed six episodes of the Apple TV+ original series Servant starring Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, and Rupert Grint. Ishana also wrote 10 episodes of Servant including the critically acclaimed season 4, episode 9 titled "Awake."

After getting a successful start as a writer and director of television, Ishana Shyamalan is poised to make an exciting feature film debut with The Watchers, which she also wrote the screenplay for. Based on the thrilling novel of the same name by A.M. Shine, The Watchers follows the story of a young artist who is stranded in an expansive forest in Ireland.

M. Night Shyamalan's cameos are iconic, unpredictable, and fun Easter eggs in his movies. From playing a pediatrician in The Sixth Sense to an infomercial host in Knock at the Cabin, his appearances vary. Shyamalan's cameos range from significant roles to blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, but add an element of surprise.

It is not unusual for directors to pop up in small cameos in their movies, but while M. Night Shyamalan does not appear in all of his movies, his appearances are often memorable. Shyamalan burst onto the scene with his Oscar-winning horror movie The Sixth Sense, and while it wasn't his first movie, it cemented him as an exciting new filmmaking voice who could truly shock audiences. Just as Shyamalan's plot twists became expected parts of his movies, his cameo appearances became well-known.

With his latest release Knock at the Cabin continuing the trend, there are only two movies in...

“I see dead people.” It’s one of the most memorable lines in modern cinema history. Back in the summer of 1999, everyone and their dead grandmother was saying those words in hushed tones, imitating young Cole Sear, the haunted protagonist of The Sixth Sense (watch it Here), which was as big of a cultural phenomenon as the movies had seen in years at the time. Thanks to an effective trailer, a word-of-mouth buzz that could not be ignored, the overall high quality of the product itself and, of course, that shocker of an ending, The Sixth Sense was one of those rare things at the cinema: a movie you simply could not miss, unless you didn’t mind being left out of the conversation completely. And most of the success was thanks to that one very compelling admission: “I see dead people.”

But that now infamous line almost wasn’t in the original script.

"The Visit," an M. Night Shyamalan movie, had the lowest budget of any of his films at just $5 million. Shyamalan took a $5 million loan against his estate to fund "The Visit" after experiencing losses with previous films. The minimal budget of "The Visit" was made possible by the film's found footage format and the lack of renowned actors in leading roles.

An 8-year-old M. Night Shyamalan movie is not only impressive because it features one of his best twists but also because it maintains a budget record. While most directors experience a fair share of ebbs and flows, failures and successes during their filmmaking careers, M. Night Shyamalan is among the few to have experienced some major highs and equally major lows during his directorial journey. He rose to fame after The Sixth Sense earned him two Academy Award nominations and kept growing from strength to strength as a director...

M. Night Shyamalan's thirty-year-plus career has gone through many highs and lows — from rising to prominence as an innovative auteur to becoming a parody of himself with a string of unsuccessful studio sludge, then experiencing a comeback through the lo-fi horror genre. Whether he's viewed as a critical darling or a critical punching bag, Shyamalan continues to deliver suspenseful stories that delve into the darkest, most emotional corners of the human psyche.

After his masterpiece "The Sixth Sense" thrust him into the spotlight, Shyamalan became synonymous with supernatural thrillers that deliver a gobsmacking twist, turning the world of the film completely upside down. But soon these astonishing final revelations became an expectation that not every film was able to deliver, even becoming ridiculously absurd.

Watching all of Shyamalan's films makes it clear how he uses the paranormal to uncover the core of our humanity. These ghostly or science fiction...

Night Shyamalan, known for his infamously thrilling, psychological films released his newest film ‘Knock at the Cabin’ on Friday, February 3rd. The film centers around a family with a young daughter, away on a quiet vacation to a cabin and its surrounding woods. During their stay, they are approached by a group of four strangers to take them into captivity, forcing them to choose between saving the world or saving each other. Although M. Night Shyamalan has had his experience with dark and mystifying films, this may be his most terrifying film yet. It strikes close to home on the theme of family, as well as the looming danger of an apocalypse. Let’s take a look at who M. Night Shyamalan is, what he’s known for, and the cast chosen to represent the crucial roles in this n Night Shyamalan was born in August 1970, in India. He was raised in Penn Valley,...

Los Angeles, Feb 17 (Ians) Indian American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has inked a new multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker switching his allegiance from Universal.

The announcement was made on Thursday by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.

News of the pact comes as the director celebrates his latest release ‘Knock at the Cabin’, which marks his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office – he has a No. 1 film in each of the last four decades – and further contributes to his more than 3 billion haul at the global box office, beginning with his breakout hit, ‘The Sixth Sense’, reports Variety.

“Where I write and direct is my home,” Shyamalan said in a statement announcing the new deal.

“Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros....

M. Night Shyamalan has inked a new multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker switching his allegiance from Universal. The announcement was made Thursday by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.

News of the pact comes as the director celebrates his latest release “Knock at the Cabin,” which marks his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office — he has a No. 1 film in each of the last four decades — and further contributes to his more than 3 billion haul at the global box office, beginning with his breakout hit, “The Sixth Sense.”

“Where I write and direct is my home,” Shyamalan said in a statement announcing the new deal. “Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros. has a storied history of cinema. Through its recent experiences,...

Exclusive: Warner Bros Pictures Group has inked a multi-year first-look directing and producing agreement with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, whose movies have grossed 3.3 billion at the box office.

In a career spanning four decades, Shyamalan has the rare distinction of having film open at No. 1 in each of those decades. Most recently, he saw his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office with Universal’s Knock at the Cabin, which currently counts 40 million worldwide off a 20M production cost.

The pact with Shyamalan comes amid a string of talent deals made recently by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy; previous first looks include with Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road as well as two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, both first reported by Deadline.

Under the new agreement, Shyamalan and his Philadelphia-based production company Blinding Edge Pictures, run by president of production Ashwin Rajan,...

The following post contains spoilers for nine M. Night Shyamalan movies, including "Knock at the Cabin."

Many casual fans don't know this, but "The Sixth Sense" wasn't M. Night Shyamalan's first feature film. It was his third, after "Praying with Anger" and "Wide Awake," but it defined his reputation as a maker of eerily quiet, slow-paced thrillers with a "Twilight Zone" vibe and (usually) big twists at the end. Initially, this formula was so successful that some began referring to Shyamalan in the same sentence as Steven Spielberg, but then he took some bigger swings — without the twists — and things didn't work out so well. So, after being humbled by big-budget disappointments like "The Last Airbender" and "After Earth," Shyamalan went back to basics, making films with lower budgets, more suspenseful plots, and yes, big twists. Of late, he's taken to adapting books and actually changing the endings, surprising readers...

While not the first time it's happened, M. Night Shyamalan reveals that Knock at the Cabin nearly didn't include a major tradition of his. Based on Paul G. Tremblay's novel, the psychological horror film centers on a family of three heading to a remote cabin for a weekend getaway finding themselves under threat by a group of four strangers who claim to be on a mission to stop the apocalypse, which requires one of the family to sacrifice themselves. Dave Bautista leads the cast of Knock at the Cabin alongside Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn and Rupert Grint.

In a recent interview with Collider to discuss his newly released film, M. Night Shyamalan opened up about the making of Knock at the Cabin. When asked about his cameo in the film, the writer/director revealed it nearly didn't come to be, explaining how his editor...

While 1999’s The Sixth Sense is rightly regarded as the film that launched M. Night Shyamalan’s career — his latest, Old, opens July 23 — the India-born, Philadelphia-raised director had made two features before it.

The first, 1992’s Praying With Anger, was an autobiographical film starring Shyamalan and shot while he was a student at NYU. His second outing was a step into the big leagues: On the strength of its script, Wide Awake drew a cast of big-name talent like Rosie O’Donnell, Denis Leary, Dana Delany and Robert Loggia (plus a young Julia Stiles in one of her ...

While 1999’s The Sixth Sense is rightly regarded as the film that launched M. Night Shyamalan’s career — his latest, Old, opens July 23 — the India-born, Philadelphia-raised director had made two features before it.

The first, 1992’s Praying With Anger, was an autobiographical film starring Shyamalan and shot while he was a student at NYU. His second outing was a step into the big leagues: On the strength of its script, Wide Awake drew a cast of big-name talent like Rosie O’Donnell, Denis Leary, Dana Delany and Robert Loggia (plus a young Julia Stiles in one of her ...

ObituarySome of Krishnamoorthy's well-known Tamil films include 'Thenali', 'Naan Kadavul', 'Bharathi' and 'Imsai Arasan 23aam Pulikesi'.Tnm StaffNational award winning art director P Krishnamoorthy, known for his work in Tamil films like Bharathi and Imsai Arasan 23aam Pulikesi, passed away in Chennai on December 13, Sunday, due to age related ailments. The five-time National Award winner was 77. A resident of Madipakkam in Chennai, Krishnamoorthy’s last rites will be held at his house on Monday afternoon. Born in the coastal town of Poompuhar, Krishnamoorthy entered the film industry with Gv Iyer’s Hamsa Geethe in 1975, a Kannada film. This film, based on the life of 18th century Carnatic musician Bhairavi Venkatasubbaiah, received two National Awards post its release. Krishnamoorthy's first National Award was, however, for Madhvacharya, directed by Gv Iyer. The two have worked in films such as Adi Shankaracharya (1983), Madvacharya (1986) and Ramanujacharya (1989). Krishnamoorthy was a passionate artist even as a child.

It’s the 20th anniversary of “The Sixth Sense,” a success that took everybody by surprise, including the filmmakers. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan had made only two films, “Praying With Anger” and “Wide Awake,” which barely made a ripple in theaters. However, Variety reported Aug. 9, 1999, “In a surprise ending to rival the film’s twisty plot, Buena Vista’s supernatural thriller ‘The Sixth Sense’ stunned prognosticators by snatching the weekend box office title from odds-on favorite ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ The Bruce Willis starrer opened to an August record $25.8 million, according to studio estimates.” A month later, Variety declared it the “Sleeper of the Summer,” and said amid all the films with big marketing budgets and the studios’ newfound fascination with internet promotion, “Sixth Sense” had an old-fashioned reason for success: “This film has spectacular word of mouth,” Marc Pascucci, senior VP of marketing for Loews Cineplex U.S., told Variety.

With the release of Glass, we revisit the filmography of M. Night Shyamalan and rank his films from worst to best.

As much of any filmmaker, M. Night Shyamalan has had a career of highs and lows. His accolades have run the gamut from Academy Award nominee to Razzie frontrunner. He was once the talk of Hollywood, an up-and-coming filmmaker who had a gift to surprise his audience unlike anyone had ever done before. But as success came, so did increased scrutiny, and for whatever reason, he just could not maintain the same level of critical and popular approval. However, despite the nosedive of his career (and recent comeback) one thing you can say about M. Night Shyamalan is that he never strayed from his own vision and approach as a filmmaker. Despite all of the criticism he has faced, his films have consistently made money at the box office...

In a fitting manner, M. Night Shyamalan's path to notoriety was full of unexpected twists. With this month’s release of Glass, we take a look at the early years of this contentious filmmaker.

M. Night Shyamalan is a popular filmmaker who has gained notoriety for his supernatural thrillers and the manner in which his films often end with a shocking twist. His breakthrough was the 1999 Bruce Willis-starring thriller, The Sixth Sense. That film seemingly came out of nowhere and impressed both audiences and critics with its wit and the performances of its two lead actors. The film would go on to gross more than a billion dollars at the box office (adjusted for 2019), and would give his career a huge momentum boost which would continue over the course of his next few films, which included Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village. Both The Sixth Sense and The Village would receive Academy Award nominations,...

CinematographyMadhu has cranked the camera for films in nine different Indian languages and has also been a part of Hollywood films.CV AravindArmed with a degree in Physics, a young Madhu Ambat had two options in front of him. He had secured admission in Iit where he could pursue a career in engineering. He had also gained admission to the prestigious Film & Television Institute of India (Ftii) in Pune that offers multifarious courses related to cinema. A yen for cinematography saw him plump for the latter, a decision that he has never had to rue till date. Madhu passed out of Ftii with a Gold Medal and in 1973, bagged his first assignment, a documentary on ‘Industrial Estates’ directed by Ramu Kariat of Chemmeen fame. In over four and a half decades, Madhu has cranked the camera for an incredible 250 films, his milestone film being Pani in Malayalam. He is...

Will this list have a twist ending? Keep reading to find out!

M. Night Shymalan is not a mystery. He might be shy about doling out advice in interviews, but his social media presence is very instructive for those who admire and follow him. He’s had a lot of ups and downs in his career, having broken out with 1999’s The Sixth Sense, which is still considered by many to be his best work and the best example of what he’s become famous for: the twist ending. His movies don’t always come together as well as that one, but he’s still a respectable filmmaker with a lot of good ideas and surprises up his sleeve now and again. Below are some tips he has shared over the years, directly to journalists as well as to his fans on Twitter.

Every moment on the set you have to be creatively intense. It's...

M. Night Shyamalan’s star has been on the steady decline since “The Sixth Sense” set his bar almost unattainably high in 1999. There are some adamant “Signs” fans, and you might even find an apologist or two for “The Village” if you ask around. But “The Happening,” “Lady in the Water” (did anyone see that?), “The Last Airbender,” “After Earth” —none of these are good movies. The director's freshman film was 1992's “Praying with Anger” and concerns the journey of an East Indian teen to India from the States to revisit his roots. Six years later, Shyamalan wrote and directed “Wide Awake,” another film about a boy tapping into his past; this time, the protagonist is a ten-year-old searching for God in the wake of his grandfather’s passing. It starred Rosie O’Donnell as a nun (did you even know Rosie O’Donnell was in an M. Night Shyamalan movie,...

John Saavedra Aug 6, 2019

As M. Night Shyamalan And The Sixth Sense celebrate a birthday, we look back on both in our ranking of his filmogrpahy.

This M. Night Shyamalan article contains spoilers.

You are currently experiencing the Shyamalanaissance, which is not some kind of B-movie supernatural occurrence, but the return of M. Night Shyamalan to the forefront of filmmaking. After a few big budget flops, this cult-favorite director went back to his low-budget roots for the 2015 found-footage film The Visit, an excellent thriller with a twist that will undoubtedly remind movie viewers of his earlier thriller masterpieces, such as The Sixth Sense and Signs. Since then, Shyamalan has released the surprising slasher film Split and the Unbreakable superhero sequel, Glass, which showcase the director at his very best and most ambitious

Not many directors boast as many memorable screen moments as Shyamalan and fewer still continue to put out such...

The Sixth Sense wasn’t M. Night Shymalan’s feature debut, but it was the film that put his name on the map after he made the little-seen Praying with Anger and Wide Awake. Shyamalan and leading man Bruce Willis followed up their hit supernatural drama by deconstructing comic book archetypes in Unbreakable – now considered by many to be Shyamalan’s finest movie – and the pair have come close to collaborating for a third time in the past, but it’s just not been in the stars – until now, possibly.

Shyamalan and Willis are in negotiations to reunite on Labor of Love, based on a script that Shyamalan sold ...

Click to continue reading M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis May Reunite for ‘Labor of Love’

The post M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis May Reunite for ‘Labor of Love’ appeared first on Screen Rant.

Exclusive: M. Night Shyamalan is in talks to re-team with Bruce Willis in Labor Of Love, based on one of the very first scripts Shyamalan sold in his career. The project will be financed by Emmett/Furla/Oasis, which is coming off the twice Oscar-nominated hit Lone Survivor and is prepping the Martin Scorsese-directed Silence. The plan is to start production mid-September in Philadelphia. Im Global’s Stuart Ford is making a deal to sell the picture in Berlin. Randall Emmett and George Furla are producing with Blinding Edge’s Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan. Shyamalan and Willis made The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, which are my two favorite films by the director. This project goes back even further, as it was one of the very first screenplays that Shyamalan sold. This one went to Fox in 1993, but it didn’t get made back then because Shyamalan was fighting to...

Few filmmakers have experienced the sort of unheralded rise and subsequent implosion that have marked the career of M. Night Shyamalan. His 1999 ghost story The Sixth Sense was a massive hit, and the follow-ups, Unbreakable and Signs, seemed to solidify him as an important voice in science fiction and suspense cinema.

But then, we saw The Village. And Lady In The Water. And everything else. From commanding a multi-million dollar deal just to write Signs, Shyamalan had become an almost instant has been; a whipping boy for critics and fans fed up with his bizarre twists and increasingly sloppy writing, not to mention his own not-so-private sense of self-importance. By the time The Last Airbender was met with scathing reviews, Shyamalan was essentially considered washed up. This summer’s After Earth downplayed his involvement in its advertisements as much as was humanly possible, apparently aware of his now toxic reputation.

Chicago – Oscar accolades are a godsend, but so are they an affliction. They’re the ultimate vote of respect from your industry, but then you’ve got to keep being as genius as they thought you were. In M. Night Shyamalan’s case, it’s all gone downhill since his 1999 smash-hit “The Sixth Sense,” which was nominated for six of these portly golden statues. Now attaching his name to a movie does it more destruction than good.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

After first trying to emulate Alfred Hitchock and failing to, Shyamalan shifted to attempting a blockbuster with 2010’s “The Last Airbender,” which won at the box office but failed with critics. Back for redemption in 2013, he teamed up with the most mismatched kin you could imagine: the profitable Hollywood family comprised of Will, Jaden, Jada Pinkett and Caleeb Pinkett Smith.

The result of Shyamalan trying to evidence he could rise to J.J. Abrams...

Mumbai, May 27: Indian-origin Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan feels that Indian cinema is limited in its genres by being inclined towards "Shakespearean kinds of movement and plots" -- the reason why its audiences have not developed a taste for supernatural stories or films about aliens.

Shyamalan, who started his cinematic journey with a drama titled "Praying with Anger", has excelled in making thrillers. From superhero thriller "Unbreakable" and science fiction "Signs" to supernatural horror "The Sixth Sense" and fantasy adventure "The Last Airbender" -- he has tried it all.

Now the filmmaker is coming out with his alien.

M. Night Shyamalan has had one of the more -- interesting? controversial? -- trajectories of any filmmaker in recent memory. While no one remembers his first two movies ("Wide Awake," "Praying With Anger"), it was 1999's "The Sixth Sense" that made him a sensation, with many calling him the next Alfred Hitchcock or Steven Spielberg. While that hasn't held up, Shyamalan continued to mine the supernatural twist genre to increasingly diminishing returns, wearing out his audience's taste for third act reveals by the time "The Happening" and its sinister trees arrived. Lately, he's dove into full blown tentpole land with the nearly unwatchable "The Last Airbender" and this summer's "After Earth," but is Shyamalan secretly an arthouse filmmaker lost in the blockbuster world? The filmmaker recently sat down to chat with DGA Quarterly and the entire conversation took place as Shyamalan watched "The Last Picture Show," a movie he unabashedly loves.

A website has been launched with a goal to raise funds to send Last Airbender director M. Night Shyamalan back to film school.

The 'M. Night School' project was founded by three former fans, including author Chris Baker, who claim that they want to help the filmmaker improve his craft after a series of box office bombs. The trio hope to raise $$150,000 (£91,000) in order to pay for Shyamalan to return to New York University. The director famously released his first film Praying with Anger while he was still attending the institution in the early 1990s. So far, the website has raised more than $$600 (£364) for the cause. The filmmaker's former fans claim in an official statement on the 'M. Night School' website that (more)...

M Night Shyamalan’s latest film, The Last Airbender, released in the country this weekend and the director is hopeful it will do well here because of its Asian influences. “Indian families will find it interesting,” he asserts. Shyamalan, whose first film, Praying With Anger (1992), was shot in India, is all praise for Ar Rahman, who he says is “such a prize for India”. He also expressed the desire to work with him in the future. “I’m considering bringing one of my ideas to India. I’m really keen on shooting one of my films here,” ...

M. Night Shyamalan is gearing up to release "The Last Airbender" and he is allegedly preparing a new project at the same time. According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), the moviemaker "is quietly circulating a new script around town".

Little has been known about the project details as Shyamalan is famously secretive. However, A-list stars Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bruce Willis are said to be "loosely attached to star in the film."

To keep the project a secret, Shyamalan reportedly only allows top studio execs to read the script. THR further reports that the studio bosses have to be supervised by a Shyamalan assistant during the process. And when they finish reading, the assistant will take the script back and leave.

M. Night Shyamalan released his first film "Praying with Anger" in 1992. He gained international recognition when writing and directing 1999 "The Sixth Sense" which was followed by "Unbreakable". However,...

This marks the 10 year anniversary of “I see dead people.” That prophetic sentence was first uttered on August 6, 1999 with the release of the phenomenon, The Sixth Sense, and the career of M. Night Shyamalan was truly born. Today is M. Night Shyamalan’s birthday and the 10th anniversary of The Sixth Sense. Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan was born on August 6, 1970 in Pondicherry, India and after his birth, his parents, both doctors, moved the family to the United States where Night and his sister, Veena, grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Night graduated from Nyu film school and it was there that he made up the name “Night.” Shyamalan met his future wife, Bhavna Vaswani, a psychologist, in college. They married in 1993 and have two daughters.

Now while I realize that Night had previously directed Praying With Anger (in film school) and Wide Awake (1998), 1999’s The Sixth Sense is assuredly his first successful foray into Hollywood.

M. Night Shyamalan is in discussions to make his first film outside the Walt Disney Co. banner since his success with 1999's The Sixth Sense. He is talking with Fox 2000 about adapting, directing and producing Life of Pi, a project based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, sources said. The novel, which won the Man Booker Prize for 2002, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zookeeper. Residents of Pondicherry, India -- Shyamalan's home town -- the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi is found adrift in the Pacific on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. The project is Shyamalan's first for another studio following four back-to-back films for Disney: The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis; Unbreakable, starring Willis and Samuel L. Jackson; Signs, starring Mel Gibson; and the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix starrer The Village, aka The Woods. His other directing credits include Wide Awake and Praying With Anger.

M. Night Shyamalan is in discussions to make his first film outside the Walt Disney Co. banner since his success with 1999's The Sixth Sense. He is talking with Fox 2000 about adapting, directing and producing Life of Pi, a project based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, sources said. The novel, which won the Man Booker Prize for 2002, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zookeeper. Residents of Pondicherry, India -- Shyamalan's home town -- the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi is found adrift in the Pacific on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. The project is Shyamalan's first for another studio following four back-to-back films for Disney: The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis; Unbreakable, starring Willis and Samuel L. Jackson; Signs, starring Mel Gibson; and the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix starrer The Village, aka The Woods. His other directing credits include Wide Awake and Praying With Anger.