For years filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has been talked about the possibility of his 2000 film Unbreakable being the first of a trilogy about a man, played by Bruce Willis, who discovers that he has extraordinary powers. But in some interviews, it seemed as if that desire was tempered by his urge to continue making films for artistic and not necessarily financial reasons.
But it seems as if ee has found the proper balance between the two and has come up with a way to bring an Unbreakable sequel to the big screen.
Before going further, I suppose that I should say that there is a massive whopping spoiler involved for Split, Shyamalan’s latest film which just opened this past weekend. Though even by saying that much in an article that is supposed to be about Unbreakable, I may be hinting at what the spoiler may be. Anyway, if you haven’t yet seen Split and don’t want to be spoiled, turn away now.
If you have seen Split, then you probably know which way this is heading. At the end of Split, the capture of the film’s multiple personality villain dubbed “The Horde” is being reported on by the local Philadelphia media. And one person watching that report is Bruce Willis as presumably his Unbreakable character of David Dunn. And to drive the idea home, the newscaster references Unbreakable‘s villain Mr. Glass, played in that movie by Samuel L. Jackson.
So it appears that Shyamalan, while not making a direct sequel, has at least set up a shared universe between the two films. And in an interview with USA Today, has stated that he is already at work writing a full-fledged Unbreakable sequel and has said of the 10-page outline he has already written, “It’s very big, so that scares me a little.”
Shyamalan states that Split didn’t necessarily start off as a stealth Unbreakable sequel.
People who saw it early were like, ‘You know what? This really reminds me of Unbreakable.’ And I’m like, ‘Really, that’s interesting.’ When they see the movie, they’ll be like, ‘I knew it!’ Maybe they’ll even think they gave me the idea.
Although Shyamalan discloses that he has one other original story idea that he is anxious to do, he says that this Unbreakable sequel could very well be his next film. Willis, of course, has already committed to returning. Will Jackson’s Mr. Glass return as well? Shyamalan doesn’t say, but it is hard to believe that Jackson wouldn’t reprise the role if asked.
