If you’ve seen M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, Split, or if you’ve been unfortunate when it comes to spoilers on the Internet, you’ll know that the horror/thriller ends off similar to your average MCU joint. It’s revealed that the movie takes place in the same universe as one of the director’s biggest hits, Unbreakable, opening up the possibility of an extended universe within his own filmography — not unlike, say, Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse or the connectivity within Quentin Tarantino’s contributions to cinema.
So, does this mean we’ll get some more crossovers in the near future, or was this just a fun tease for fans? According to the filmmaker, it’s the former. In a recent interview with Cinema Blend, Shyamalan discussed Split‘s controversial ending, suggesting that there’s room for expansion when it comes to his previous films as he owns all the sequel rights.
Luckily I took care of all the right stuff. I had it all arranged, and everyone was fantastic about it, and everything like that. So it worked out great on that front. I kind of own the sequel rights to all my movies; not own, but nobody can make a sequel to my movies without permission. I gave up whatever I needed to give up to make sure I had those over time, because I figured 20 something years from now, I’m going to be pretty upset if [someone made a sequel without my involvement].
With the exception of The Last Airbender, there’s always been a Twilight Zone-esque nature to Shyamalan’s films, at least in this writer’s humble opinion. While sequels were never out of the question, they were never put to mind, either. That said, these last few years are Shyamalan‘s most inspired in a long time, and it looks like he’s finally finding his niche somewhere between psychological horror and quirky dark comedy. Split was one of his finest in the past decade or so, and if he’s got a crackerjack idea in his mind for how to move forward, we welcome his enthusiasm.
Tell us, though, do you agree? Would you like to see a Shyamalaniverse? Let us know in the usual place.
