Conventional wisdom then held that an original superhero story wouldn’t sell, and Shyamalan has said that Disney, which produced “Unbreakable,” encouraged him not to market it as a comic-book movie — an unthinkable strategy today. (A harbinger of the culture to come, “X-Men,” released that same year, grossed nearly 300 million.) “Unbreakable” made money, but it fell way short of “The Sixth Sense” and failed to resonate the way Shyamalan had hoped.
Still, his instincts were ultimately validated: Spandex went mainstream, and “Unbreakable,” always a critics’ favorite, amassed a loyal fan base over the years, not least with the Comic Con set. Then Shyamalan surprised fans with “Split”: a horror-thriller sequel starring James McAvoy that took in over $278 million on a $9 million budget. After a string of critical failures including “The Last Airbender,” “The Happening” and “After Earth,” there was talk of a comeback.
That momentum also put pressure on “Glass” — which with its $20 million budget and long script, Shyamalan said, was the toughest film he ever made. Calling from Europe, he talked about the film and offered insights on the “Unbreakable” universe, and on whether he would ever direct a “Star Wars” film. Following are edited excerpts from that conversation.
When you made “Unbreakable,” the market for superhero movies was nothing like it is today. What do you make of Hollywood’s being so welcoming of them now?
It makes sense. I was happy to be in front of that and say, “Hey, let’s make a comic book movie, a movie about comic books.” And everyone going: “That’s a very fringe market. That’s not a mainstream notion, and regular people don’t go to see those kinds of movies.” And now, it’s ubiquitous.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/movies/glass-m-night-shyamalan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.