Fresh off concluding his Eastrail 177 trilogy this past January with Glass, cult filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is set to make two more original thrillers for Universal. The studio has today announced that the two movies, whose titles and plots are currently unknown, will drop on February 26th, 2021 and February 17th, 2023, respectively. Both will be written and directed by Shyamalan.
To commemorate the announcement of their continued partnership with the director, Universal president Peter Cramer said the following:
“M. Night Shyamalan continues to create exciting, highly original stories that keep global audiences on the edge of their seats. There is no one like him: he is a master filmmaker working at the height of his powers, and we are honored that he has once again chosen Universal to be the home for his next two incredible projects.”
Shyamalan himself also commented on the situation, praising Universal for their commitment to making original cinema.
“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. I am so excited to be working with them again and bringing new stories to the movie screen for years to come.”
Of course, the filmmaker has dipped his toe into big budget franchise projects in the past, notably the Will Smith vehicle After Earth and The Last Airbender live-action movie. However, those efforts were both critical and commercial flops. It seems Shyamalan has decided he’s best off working on his own smaller projects that he’s passionate about, then. This is probably why he’s so far turned down the opportunity to hop into bed with Marvel and DC.
Unfortunately, there’s no telling what’s in store in these next two movies, as M. Night Shyamalan has dipped his toe into various genres over the years. Just looking at his last three films, you get a found-footage horror comedy (The Visit), a psychological thriller (Split) and a superhero sequel (Glass). As for the casts, sometimes Shyamalan likes to go for big names, like Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, whereas other times he prefers unknowns. So again, it’s all up in the air. Though one thing’s for sure, and that’s that we can no doubt expect a big twist at the end of each flick.
