Indian-American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan wrote, directed, and starred in his first project, the independent film Praying with Anger , while he was a student at New York University ; inspired by his cultural upbringing, the movie was released in 1992 and earned him praise at film festivals.[ 1] [ 2] His next film, the comedy-drama Wide Awake about a grieving child struggling with his Catholic faith, was completed in 1995 but shelved by the studio Miramax until 1998.[ 3] [ 4] During this period, he did an uncredited rewrite of the script for the romantic-comedy She's All That that allegedly "got the movie green-lit " and co-wrote the live-action/animated film Stuart Little (both released in 1999).[ 5] [ 6] Also in 1999, he wrote and directed the supernatural drama The Sixth Sense , starring Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient claims he can see and talk to the dead. The three projects were commercially successful, with The Sixth Sense becoming the second-highest grossing film of the year and earning Shyamalan international attention and name recognition from critics and audiences and Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay .[ 7] [ 8]
Shyamalan at a press conference for The Happening in 2008
He reunited with Willis on the thriller Unbreakable about a seemingly average man, David Dunn , who learns he has superhuman abilities. The film co-starred Samuel L. Jackson and was released in 2000. Like Unbreakable , his science-fiction thriller Signs (2002) and period drama The Village (2004) found financial success and solidified him as a filmmaker known for his twist endings and cameo appearances .[ 9] [ 10] [ 11] The next decade, however, saw a series of critical misfires with Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), and the higher-budgeted The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth (2013).[ 12] In 2015, he had a career resurgence after partnering with Universal Pictures on the found footage horror film The Visit , which made $98.5 million on a $5 million budget he self-funded by taking out a loan against his estate.[ 13] He worked with Universal again on Split (2016) and its sequel Glass (2019), which with Unbreakable comprise the Eastrail 177 Trilogy ; Old (2021); and Knock at the Cabin (2023).[ 14] He partnered with Warner Bros. Pictures for his latest films: Trap (2024) and Remain (2027).[ 15] Since The Visit , he has partly self-financed his films.[ 16] In television, he directed the pilot of Wayward Pines (2015) and showran Servant (2019–2023).
Critical and public response
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1 2 3 "AFI Catalog - Praying with Anger (1993)" . American Film Institute . Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Thomas, Lou (January 28, 2019). "Where to begin with M. Night Shyamalan" . British Film Institute . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Davids, Brian (January 31, 2023). "M. Night Shyamalan Says He Has Experienced Hollywood Highs and Lows So Many Times" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Abramovitch, Seth (July 21, 2021). "Rosie O'Donnell Recalls Confronting Harvey Weinstein About M. Night Shyamalan Film Wide Awake " . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Busis, Hillary (June 17, 2013). "M. Night Shyamalan and 'She's All That': Did he really write it?" . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
1 2 Floorwalker, Mike (June 14, 2021). "The Untold Truth Of M. Night Shyamalan" . Looper.com . Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Bolling, Gaius (August 4, 2024). "How M. Night Shyamalan Ruled the Summer Box Office in 1999" . MovieWeb . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Mendelson, Scott (August 6, 2014). " 'The Sixth Sense' Made M. Night Shyamalan Into Hollywood's Last Spielberg" . Forbes . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Greiving, Tim (July 30, 2020). "M. Night Shyamalan Talks Signs , Twists, and Crop-Circle Tattoos" . The Ringer . Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2021 .
↑ Morris, Wesley (August 24, 2020). "Plot Twist! Why 2004 Was a Surprising Year for Movies" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021 .
↑ Goslin, Austen; Egan, Toussaint (October 25, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's cameos ranked in order of importance" . Polygon . Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Barnes, Brooks (August 18, 2015). "With The Visit , M. Night Shyamalan Returns to His Filmmaking Roots" . The New York Times . Retrieved October 11, 2022 .
↑ Hiatt, Brian (December 20, 2018). "The Fall and Rise of M. Night Shyamalan" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 23, 2025 . {{cite magazine }}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link )
↑ McClintock, Pamela (September 16, 2019). "M. Night Shyamalan Sets His Next Two Movies at Universal for Release in 2021, 2023" . The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021 .
↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 16, 2023). "M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets Trap At Studio" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 16, 2023 .
↑ "M. Night Shyamalan's risky self-financing run continues with Trap " . Associated Press . July 25, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2025 .
↑ Ebert, Roger (March 27, 1998). "Wide Awake " . RogerEbert.com . Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Russell, Mike (August 2002). "Night's Skies | In Focus, Volume II, Number 8" . National Association of Theatre Owners . Archived from the original on July 14, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Nichols, Mackenzie (August 2, 2019). "The Sixth Sense Turns 20: M. Night Shyamalan and Haley Joel Osment Tell All" . Variety . Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Bramesco, Charles (November 23, 2020). "Unbreakable at 20: the film that finally took superheroes seriously" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Budowski, Jade (July 29, 2017). "Signs At 15: The Scariest Alien Movie Ever?" . Decider . Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Chitwood, Adam (July 30, 2019). "In Defense of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village " . Collider . Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Freer, Ian (January 2000). "Lady In The Water Review" . Empire . Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Honeycutt, Kirk (June 9, 2008). "The Happening : Film Review" . The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ "M Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender wins Razzie Awards" . BBC Online . February 27, 2011. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Miska, Brad (October 28, 2008). "Dowdle Brothers Team For Shyamalan's Devil " . Bloody Disgusting . Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2020 .
↑ Busis, Hillary (June 2, 2013). "After Earth : The funniest, meanest reviews" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 9, 2015). "The Visit : Review" . Screen Daily . Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Hidayat, Firhat (March 5, 2017). "Split (2016) — Not just an Ordinary Thriller Movie" . Medium . Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Edelstein, David (January 14, 2019). "M. Night Shyamalan's Glass Congeals on the Screen" . Vulture . Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ McClintock, Pamela; Couch, Aaron (June 23, 2020). "Universal Sets M. Night Shyamalan's Next Movie for July 2021" . The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021 .
↑ Dick, Jeremy (June 11, 2022). "M. Night Shyamalan Wraps Filming on Next Movie Knock at the Cabin" . MovieWeb . Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022 .
↑ Rajput, Priyanca (September 5, 2023). "Ishana Shyamalan's debut feature The Watchers wraps in Dublin" . KFTV.com . Retrieved November 4, 2023 .
↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 16, 2023). "M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets Trap At Studio" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023 .
↑ Kroll, Justin (October 4, 2021). "M. Night Shyamalan's Blinding Edge Pictures To Produce Vanishings At Caddo Lake From Directing Duo Celine Held And Logan George" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 22, 2021 .
↑ Kroll, Justin (January 29, 2025). "Jake Gyllenhaal To Star In New Original Film From M. Night Shyamalan And Nicholas Sparks" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 19, 2025 .
↑ Dowling, Amber (April 30, 2015). "Wayward Pines : 'Where Paradise is Home' Review" . IGN . Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Weintraub, Steve (January 16, 2021). "M. Night Shyamalan on Servant , His 40-Episode Plan, and Future Movies" . Collider . Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Roschke, Ryan (January 21, 2019). "9 M. Night Shyamalan Movie Cameos That Made Us Groan Into Our Popcorn" . PopSugar . Archived from the original on October 14, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Haque, Ahsan (July 9, 2007). "Entourage : 'Sorry, Harvey' Review" . IGN . Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Del Rosario, Alexandra (August 6, 2019). "The Cast of The Sixth Sense , Then and Now" . The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021 .
↑ Beasley, Tom (December 13, 2019). "M. Night Shyamalan on the burden of twist expectations and his Servant cameo (exclusive)" . Yahoo! Movies . Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Fremont, Maggie (October 1, 2019). "This Is Us Recap: Pearson Family Fun Day" . Vulture . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Siede, Caroline (January 28, 2020). "This Is Us asks us to put our faith in M. Night Shyamalan" . The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021 .
↑ Desta, Yohana (July 23, 2021). "How M. Night Shyamalan's Old Updates the Graphic Novel Sandcastle " . Vanity Fair . Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021 .
↑ Abdulbaki, Mae (February 6, 2023). "Where To Spot M. Night Shyamalan's Cameo In Knock At The Cabin" . Screen Rant . Retrieved February 8, 2023 .
↑ Papadopoulos, Charles (August 3, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's Cameo In Trap Explained" . Screen Rant . Retrieved August 4, 2024 .
↑ "M. Night Shyamalan" . Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021 .
↑ "M. Night Shyamalan" . Metacritic . Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2021 .
↑ "CinemaScore" . CinemaScore . Retrieved February 12, 2021 . Each film's score can be accessed from the website's search bar.