How M. Night Shyamalan Got Out Of His Career Slump
Once,M. Night Shyamalan’s name was synonymous with box office disappointment.
The horror director exploded on the scene withThe Sixth Sensein 1999, and became known for his mind-blowing twist endings. He was on a roll for a while withUnbreakableandSigns,but then something happened. His movies began to get critically panned, and he became something of a has-been director — known for his cheap twists and shoddy plotting.
But Shyamalan has been quietly redeeming himself since then, most recently with the the surprise horror/thriller hitSplit, through which Shyamalan is launching his own cinematic universe. In a candid interview aboutSplit, Shyamalan revealed how he got out of that career slump and redeemed himself as a director.
Shyamalan isn’t under the illusion that his career has been all hits. AfterSigns,he directed misfire after misfire, fromThe VillagetoLady in the Waterand the meme-worthyTheHappening. And there was the godawful movie that won’t be named, the travesty of an adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon animated series that wasThe Last Airbender.
In aradio interview on Sway in the MorningalongsideSplitstarJames McAvoy, Shyamalan gave an honest assessment of his career up until then and his failures as a director.
“When you think of artists and why over the course of their career — how come a songwriter doesn’t write a song that affects me anymore — what is that? What is that architecture of an artist’s life that causes them not be able to reach us? For me, this is all theory of this optimal moment of experience and instinct that happens, and it causes this electric moment and we hear them really beautifully. The way life is that experience becomes your expertise, and it becomes safety. You use your craft to kind of protect you, you stop doing the instinct thing.”
Essentially, because we had come to expect him to be “the guy with the twists,” so Shyamalan started to expect that of himself, and it became a storytelling crutch for him. When he realized this, he regrouped, stepping away from blockbusters —After Earthwas his last one in 2013 — and going back to self-financed, smaller films.
“What I’ve been trying to do is become a beginner again,” Shyamalan said on the show. “So to do that, it was take away everything. I don’t have any money, I don’t have any trailers — just go tell a great story.”
He had his first surprise hit withThe Visitin 2015, which was a found footage-style horror film with mostly unknown actors. Then cameSplit,which Shyamalan cited has a prime example of his new resolve to “not work with anyone I had worked with before.” The film had a cinematographer (Mike Gioulakis) with only two other films under his belt, and completely fresh composers and production designers. Shyamalan said:
“These are all young bucks who have never done anything before. They come and it’s all dangerous and instinctual, and I don’t have that. They’re bringing me back to that ‘gut’ [instinct].”
Now, Shyamalan has got his groove back.
The ending toSplitwasbuzzed about for monthsafterwards, reinvigorating theUnbreakablefanboys who helped launch Shyamalan’s career. Now, Shymalan is launching his own veritable cinematic universe based off ofUnbreakable, witha sequel titledGlass, set to hit theatersJanuary 18, 2019and featuringBruce WillisandSamuel L. Jacksonreturning to their roles of hero and villain, as well as McAvoy’s “Beast” fromSplit.
With all the excitement and anticipation for this sequel and possible extended universe, I think Shyamalan’s slump is over. Though it will take me a while to forgive him forThe Last Airbender.
