It’s been 17 years since M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable hit theaters and, finally, he plans to make a full on sequel his next film – a film, as Shyamalan says, that will wrap up the story.
“I do intend on making a final Unbreakable movie and I’m intending on doing it next,” Shyamalan said when I spoke to him in an interview about his latest film, Split.
(If you have not seen Shyamalan’s latest film, Split, and don’t want the ending spoiled, this would be a good time to stop reading.)
Shyamalan continued, “It’s the final movie of these two movies put together.”
If you’ve seen Split (again, if you haven’t, this is your last chance to stop) you know that it ends with a scene in a diner – and in this scene a woman is commenting on a news report that’s airing about James McAvoy’s character with split personalities. The media has dubbed McAvoy’s character The Horde, but this reminds her of another villain with a funny name from a few years ago. The camera then pans to Bruce Willis as David Dunn who responds, “Mr. Glass,” referencing Samuel L. Jackson’s character.
Unbreakable, which was Shyamalan’s follow-up to his breakthrough film, The Sixth Sense, was unique in that it was a deliberate and nuanced take on a superhero origin story – and that all of his characters were original creations. It also grossed just under $250 million off of a reported $75 million budget. It was a film primed for sequels. And, technically, with Split we finally get that sequel – even though we don’t really realize that until the final scene. But now we know Shyamalan intends to make is next film a true Unbreakable film that will bring all the characters from Unbreakable and Split together.
“Yeah, I’m still close to Bruce and everybody,” says Shyamalan. “And obviously I’m still close to James and still in touch with Sam and all that stuff. So, hopefully that becomes a reality very soon.”
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