Yahoo News M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets ‘Trap’ At Studio
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Pictures Group has inked a multi-year first-look directing and producing agreement with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, whose movies have grossed $3.3 billion at the box office.
In a career spanning four decades, Shyamalan has the rare distinction of having film open at No. 1 in each of those decades. Most recently, he saw his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office with Universal’s Knock at the Cabin, which currently counts $40 million worldwide off a $20M production cost.
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The pact with Shyamalan comes amid a string of talent deals made recently by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy; previous first looks include with Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road as well as two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, both first reported by Deadline.
Under the new agreement, Shyamalan and his Philadelphia-based production company Blinding Edge Pictures, run by president of production Ashwin Rajan, will develop original projects for the filmmaker to produce and/or direct for WBPG production divisions Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema. Projects currently in the pipeline at Blinding Edge include Trap, Shyamalan’s anticipated next project as a director, which is dated for theatrical release on August 2, 2024.
There’s also The Watchers, which we first told you about, the forthcoming directorial debut of his daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan; that pic will start production this year and is dated for a June 7, 2024 release. In addition, Blinding Edge will continue to ramp up production with an eye to finding auteur-driven genre projects.
“Night is one of the most iconic and influential directors of his generation and an auteur in every sense of the word,” De Luca and Abdy said jointly. “From The Sixth Sense through Split to his latest chiller Knock at the Cabin, he’s one of the few directors in contemporary cinema whose name alone promises a bold, singular vision, compelling original storytelling and a provocative, surprising and entirely unique experience at the theater. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome him to the Warner Bros. family, and look forward to an exciting collaboration with Night and the entire Blinding Edge team.”
“Where I write and direct is my home,” says Shyamalan. “Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros. has a storied history of cinema. Through its recent experiences, the company has rediscovered its love and appreciation for filmmakers, and the impact of the theatrical experience. We all win when movies succeed in theaters. I believe David Zaslav, Michael De Luca, and Pam Abdy have dedicated themselves to unique filmmakers, and to filling theaters all around the world for years to come.”
Chasing a lifelong passion born from the 8 mm camera given to him by his father, Shyamalan started making movies while still a student at New York University, an effort that would yield his 1992 labor of love Praying with Anger, followed by his 1998 Philadelphia-shot feature Wide Awake. His third film, The Sixth Sense, released in 1999 shot him out of a canon as a blockbuster filmmaker, grossing $700M WW off a $40M budget and notching six Oscar nominations including directing and original screenplay nods for Shyamalan. Other big pics include Signs ($408.2M), The Village ($256.7M), and The Visit. His 2000 spin on the comic-book action thriller Unbreakable would ultimately spawn two millennial follow-ups, Split and Glass, the combined trio of movies earning $773.5M WW.
On the TV side, Shyamalan serves as EP, showrunner and has directed five episodes of Apple TV+’s popular thriller series Servant, which is currently in its fourth and final season. The series finale is March 17. The thriller’s second season tripled its first-season audience, becoming one of the streamer’s most watched series. Servant follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.
Shyamalan is repped by Range Media Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
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