Whatever Happened To M Night Shyamalan?

 

In 1999, M. Night Shyamalan was a rising star. He was Spielberg without the beard, he was Hitchcock without the hatred for all mankind. Shyamalan couldn’t walk down the street without receiving nominations, awards and random hugs from passing strangers. But 14 years later and his new release, After Earth, is his lowest box office return yet ($26 million for a $156 million dollar budget). It’s alleged that the industry has so little trust in him that his involvement in the film was “downplayed” (read: removed entirely). What causes a thinly-veiled 2-hour-long Scientology training video to distance itself from its director? How did he become box office poison?

M Night’s first success, Sixth Sense, is notorious for that famous line: “I can see dead fellas, Mister Willis!” and its shocking twist (they’re all actors!). At the time, Shyamalan gained acclaim for his directorial skill and his writing – including that twist. Of course, his success pales somewhat when you realise that The Phantom Menace was also released in that year. Suddenly, his success now hinges on a lack of Jar-Jar Binks.

After 1999, critics opinions are divided on M. Night. Unbreakable is successful but is criticised for being preachy (they must have had a field day with Spiderman!). Then he released his science fiction piece, Signs, in which Mel Gibson plays a sane man (more like fantasy!). This was criticised for both showing M. Night’s face and for being riddled with plot holes. At this point, people were wondering if Shyamalan had lost his magic.

Criticism peaked at the release of Lady in the Water – a film where the twist was that it was a vacuous, self-promoting, twist-less bore. M. Night not only had a major supporting role as Moses but responded to his critics by having one mauled on camera. In response, his reputation was left in tatters. This didn’t stop his from releasing another film, The Happening, which didn’t quite.. happen to silence the jeers that followed him. It did seem as though his critics had an effect, though, as one of M. Night’s cameos with Mark Wahlberg was seamlessly altered with a plastic plant in post-production.

It seems that After Earth is just another forgettable release by M. Night. It’s surprising, really, how many studios have kept him on despite his critics. It seems the virtue of Shyamalan is that, no matter how much his works are panned, he keeps holding down high-paying jobs. Better still, he’s doing surprisingly well in the recession. Can it really be, that, in some frightening parallel to 1999, he is being picked because he is the best of a bad lot (i.e. he writes an okay story, he turns up on time and he’ll get a film finished)? Maybe if he had someone to collaborate with, someone who could tell him things like “No, M. Night, you can’t play Aang in the new Avatar film” or “No, Mark Wahlberg can’t play Aang, either” he could regain his reputation. Yet, honestly, it doesn’t seem that being box office poison is stopping him from getting paid. A sobering thought for us all.

Featured Image:  manna.blogspot.com
                            20th Century Fox