No rest for the wicked, as they say. To that end, M. Night Shyamalan is now officially working in his 17th feature film as a director. The filmmaker’s latest film Trap hit theaters over the summer and, even though it’s still playing in theaters and is currently on VOD, he is wasting no time prepping what he’s going to do next. As evidence of that, Shyamalan took to Instagram recently to reveal that he’s begun the process of writing his next movie. What’s it going to be exactly? That’s the big question!
“As a ritual for each film, I pick a notebook that speaks to me and I write notes, ideas for the new film in that. When it’s overflowing with ideas, I go to outline then script,” Shyamalan said in the post’s caption, sharing an image of a red notebook. “This is the notebook for movie 17! This bright red felt just right! As #Trapmovie passes 80 million in theaters, I am so grateful and begin the new one inspired by all the support you have given me over the years.”
As Shyamalan points out, Trap recently passed the $80 million mark at the global box office. The film was his first for Warner Bros. as part of a new deal he signed with the studio in early 2023. He also produced this year’s The Watcher’s for WB, which served as the feature directorial effort of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan. So one of the only things we do know about Shyamalan’s new movie at this point is that it will be made for Warner Bros. Beyond that, as per usual, the always mysterious director is keeping things completely under wraps.
Just to recap, Shyamalan’s 16 other features as a director include Praying With Anger, Wide Awake, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, After Earth, The Visit, Split, Glass, Old and Knock at the Cabin, in addition to Trap. 1999’s The Sixth Sense marked the filmmaker’s breakout, putting him instantly on Hollywood’s A list. Sixth Sense and Signs finally got 4K releases this year for the first time, actually. Better late than never on that one.
There is no reason to speculate as to what Shyamalan will do next. He’s been all over the place in recent years doing everything from finishing his very own superhero trilogy to making a movie about a beach that makes you old. What’s exciting at this point is that it quite literally could be anything. Now, we wait…
Shyamalan’s new movie doesn’t yet have a release date but Trap is in theaters now and on VOD now. For more, check out Fango’s list of Shyamalan’s 10 best spooky movies.
