When his career spiraled out of control in the early 2010s, M. Night Shyamalan made the safe choice to turn director-for-hire. Instead of trying to get his original scripts made, he agreed to direct a vehicle for Will Smith and Jaden Smith. The star vehicle in question, After Earth, was put together less like a movie from the heart than a carefully studied project that could take the younger Smith’s career to the next level following a well-received debut with The Karate Kid. However, the experiment ended up backfiring massively; not only did Jaden never headline a movie again, but Shyamalan found himself in a worse position than he’d ever been in professionally. This time, he didn’t take the safe route. Instead, he went back to basics and put his money where his mouth is. Shyamalan’s follow-up film emerged as a hit and helped revive his now-thriving career.
The movie is over a decade old now but remains well-liked on home video. It recently witnessed a spike in viewership, emerging as one of the most-watched titles on the domestic Google Play Store chart. Unlike Shyamalan’s previous movies, which usually attracted A-list talent and were typically expensive enough to afford top-tier stars, his 2015 comeback vehicle was headlined by two child actors. The biggest name in the cast was Kathryn Hahn, who appeared only briefly. The movie cost $5 million to produce, which Shyamalan put up himself in order to have skin in the game, and was subsequently picked up by Blumhouse and distributed by Universal.
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Shyamalan Is Putting Together a Movie With Jake Gyllenhaal Next
We’re talking, of course, about The Visit. Originally thought to be titled Sundowning, the movie follows two young children who are left in the care of their grandparents, only to discover sinister goings-on at the house. The movie was filmed in the found-footage format, which was hugely popular in that era thanks to hits such as Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, and Unfriended. It ended up grossing nearly $100 million worldwide and putting Shyamalan’s career back on track. The Visit now holds a 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying blend of thrills and laughs — and also signals a welcome return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan.” Shyamalan went on to make a handful of hits over the next decade, and is now putting together the supernatural romance film Remain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and scheduled for release in February 2027. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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September 11, 2015
- Runtime
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94 Minutes
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