M. Night Shyamalan... What Happened?

[Chief Rum]

Seriously.

Today, his latest comes out, The Last Airbender. And what a shock, all of 9% on Roten Tomatoes with over 100 reviews. This guy is starting to out-Boll Uwe Boll, and that takes some doing.

I am trying to figure this out, what happeend to this guy. We have seen career arcs where bad directors start bad and stay bad (Boll). We have seen actors start well and stay good (Scorses). We have seen guys start relatively poorly but get better (Eastwood), and we have seen guys who are inconsistent (Ridley Scott).

But has anyone started his career at the pinnacle with a film nominated for Best Picture (Sixth Sense), and produced other work that was solid (Unbreakable, Signs), and then just completely fell off the Earth in the quality he was producing?

It's actually really funny, too, just how downhill it all is. Sixth Sense was terrific. I personally think Unbreakable is the best movie he's done, but I would guess the general public views it behind Sixth Sense. I think most would put Signs a little behind Unbreakable. Then The Village was a good step down in quality--some good scare moments and an interesting setting, but kinda boring and the "twist" plot device was starting to wear thin. Then Lady In The Water, which was pretty bad. Then The Happening, which I understand to have been even worse. And now The Last Airbender--a movie with a given setting and characters from the show, so that he couldn't mess that up--seems to be his worst yet.

How do you go from Oscar nominated to looking up to Uwe Boll in 13 years?

I don't understand how a mind that could produce some terrific watches in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable could possibly give his nod of approval to his last three projects without throwing up.

It's just weird.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

He should never have passed on Crime Stinks: The Smell of Penetration (He Nose the Truth).

[stevew]

sportsguy33

Stephen A. Smith reports that M. Night Shyamalan and David Kahn are joining forces to create the worst basketball movie ever.

This tweet made me lol

[Malificent]

Seriously.

Today, his latest comes out, The Last Airbender. And what a shock, all of 9% on Roten Tomatoes with over 100 reviews. This guy is starting to out-Boll Uwe Boll, and that takes some doing.

I am trying to figure this out, what happeend to this guy. We have seen career arcs where bad directors start bad and stay bad (Boll). We have seen actors start well and stay good (Scorses). We have seen guys start relatively poorly but get better (Eastwood), and we have seen guys who are inconsistent (Ridley Scott).

But has anyone started his career at the pinnacle with a film nominated for Best Picture (Sixth Sense), and produced other work that was solid (Unbreakable, Signs), and then just completely fell off the Earth in the quality he was producing?

It's actually really funny, too, just how downhill it all is. Sixth Sense was terrific. I personally think Unbreakable is the best movie he's done, but I would guess the general public views it behind Sixth Sense. I think most would put Signs a little behind Unbreakable. Then The Village was a good step down in quality--some good scare moments and an interesting setting, but kinda boring and the "twist" plot device was starting to wear thin. Then Lady In The Water, which was pretty bad. Then The Happening, which I understand to have been even worse. And now The Last Airbender--a movie with a given setting and characters from the show, so that he couldn't mess that up--seems to be his worst yet.

How do you go from Oscar nominated to looking up to Uwe Boll in 13 years?

I don't understand how a mind that could produce some terrific watches in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable could possibly give his nod of approval to his last three projects without throwing up.

It's just weird.

Cocaine. It's one hell of a drug.

[Chief Rum]

Cocaine. It's one hell of a drug.

Heh... I have actually considered drugs or some sort of addiction like that as a possibility. I can't think of too many internal things that could result in this, so an external factor like drugs would make a lot of sense.

Of course, then, it's rather curious that movie studios will still be willing to give him tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

[Matthean]

I think his ego got in the way. I'm not saying the movie is wonderfully directed, but he produced and wrote the script for the movie and every single review I have seen mentions how badly the script is done. This failed for a number of reasons. I know people will jump on the race issue, but that's like jumping on Twilight for sparkling vampires. To focus on that is to ignore the far greater issues. The animated series is done. If I was going to do A:TLA movie, I would be calling up some of the writers from the series and begging them to give me a screenplay.

[RendeR]

To be perfectly honest, he's never been that great. He had great material to work with in those first 2-3 films and as you can see from your own comments the directing level went down with each one.

I think he lucked into great stuff first thing and then his real talent, or utter lack there-of, has come out since then.

The guy sucks.

[JediKooter]

My suspicions have been confirmed...

[Pyser]

yeah, render, but he wrote that "great material" himself.

so explain that.

[RendeR]

Fraud.

[RendeR]

But seriously, who hasn't seen the writer who has a fantastic first short story or novel, who then can't come close to matching it ever again?

Sometimes people are just 1 trick ponies. He is one of them. he had a story with a great twist at the end, then he re-wrote it for more movies because everyone threw money at him to do so.

Ick.

[Chief Rum]

Seems too simplistic. While he did re-use the twist tactic in his next three movies after The Sixth Sense, there was more to the quality of those movies than just a story re-told.

For instance, the superhero dynamic in Unbreakable was very well done, the atmosphere was perfect for the movie and the actors didn't over-act (which can be a problem when your movie features Samuel Jackson and Bruce Willis).

In Signs, the basement portion of the mvoie was very well done and spooky, very Hitchcockian, not showing things and letting the viewer's imagination fill in the blanks. The philosophical stuff Gibson's character was struggling through, while heavy handed, was well-written and worked within the story. The scense which interject short bits of humor were well-timed to alleviate what is otherwise a very tense movie.

While The Village is the definite first step down, it, too, has some redeeming qualities. The atmosphere is really well done here as well, and there are some strong jump out of your seat moments (like when Bryce Dallas Howard realizes that the "monster" is almost right next to him, very creepy).

I mean, you don't do all that without having some ability. That's what makes his most recent efforts even more confusing.

[RendeR]

When all else fails, the simplest answer is generally the right one.

[cthomer5000]

Insistence on writing his own movies. Step back, adapt some good material and roll.

I realize he has adapted something for the new movie, but this is the type of movie that I think is pretty likely to be a critical bomb no matter who directed it. Card games/anime series are tough to adapt to two-hour movies.


He needs to surround himself with a few people who will tell it like it is.

[MJ4H]

I've only seen one of his movies all the way through. Unbreakable. And it is one of my favorite movies. Sixth Sense, Signs, Lady in the Water, The Village, all aborted watches. Couldn't get through them.

I love that scene in Unbreakable where he slides the newspaper article about his hero deed across the table to the kid. One of my favorite movie moments.

[flere-imsaho]

The NYT reviewer does, I think, a good job of explaining why Shyamalan mis-executed on pretty much aspect of the movie, in a genre (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) that's already tough to get off the ground successfully: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/movies/01last.html?ref=movies

[cthomer5000]

When all else fails, the simplest answer is generally the right one.

Your explanation flies in the face of most evidence though, really. So it's not that simple in this situation.

The first film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, among others. This doesn't happen by accident. So even if you think he sucks, that is a pretty miraculous first full-length effort.

This also wasn't just some art-house film that the critics carried, it was a commercial success with moments that have become part of pop culture. It was one of the rare films that succeeded critically and commercially.

Unbreakable is a divisive film. I think it's a pretty fantastic, save for a pretty awful ending (as in like only the last 2 minutes).

Signs and The Village both made plenty of money, and met with the same mixed reviews.

I've had more than my fair share of discussions about this guy and his career, and I think he's just proven himself to be right on the margin.

If person A decided they didn't like movies 2,3, and 4, then they think he sucks. If I like movies 2,3, and 4 while admitting their faults, I think he's an above-average director who has only recently made some poor movies.

[Malificent]

Seems too simplistic. While he did re-use the twist tactic in his next three movies after The Sixth Sense, there was more to the quality of those movies than just a story re-told.

For instance, the superhero dynamic in Unbreakable was very well done, the atmosphere was perfect for the movie and the actors didn't over-act (which can be a problem when your movie features Samuel Jackson and Bruce Willis).

In Signs, the basement portion of the mvoie was very well done and spooky, very Hitchcockian, not showing things and letting the viewer's imagination fill in the blanks. The philosophical stuff Gibson's character was struggling through, while heavy handed, was well-written and worked within the story. The scense which interject short bits of humor were well-timed to alleviate what is otherwise a very tense movie.

While The Village is the definite first step down, it, too, has some redeeming qualities. The atmosphere is really well done here as well, and there are some strong jump out of your seat moments (like when Joaquin Phoenix realizes that the "monster" is almost right next to him, very creepy).

I mean, you don't do all that without having some ability. That's what makes his most recent efforts even more confusing.

All my joking aside, I'm completely with the Chief here. I completely agree with his analysis.

Lady in the Pool completely stank, but I was willing to forgive him for that, because it seemed like a vanity project. But The Happening, which should have been right in his wheelhouse, was just miserable. For a movie named "The Happening", nothing actually happened. No action, no character development, no layered themes, nothing.

I constantly joke that he was replaced by a pod person at some point after the Village. Christopher Nolan has now taken his spot in my collection of directors whose work I will see regardless of the content. It saddens me a little. Regardless of a public consensus of his talent level, his earlier films really entertained me - they just perfectly hit what I like in a movie. And now he might as well be Uwe Boll.

[FF]

it's an insult to uwe that you would compare m. night to him

[Malificent]

it's an insult to uwe that you would compare m. night to him

That is true. Uwe Boll does have a much longer track record of making completely crap films. Sorry, Uwe.

[sabotai]

I thought Lady In The Water was his best movie (not saying I thought it was a great movie). I thought the Sixth Sense was "good" but didn't like it nearly as much as everyone else. The other 2 movies I saw of his was Signs and The Village. I hated both.

And The Sixth Sense was not his first movie, it was his third.

[Matthean]

The NYT reviewer does, I think, a good job of explaining why Shyamalan mis-executed on pretty much aspect of the movie, in a genre (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) that's already tough to get off the ground successfully: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/movies/01last.html?ref=movies

They missed a number of things within the list of what was wrong with the movie. You would be hard pressed to make me think M. Night actually watched the series versus just having his kids explain it to him and him going from there.

[ace1914]

Loved Sixth Sense. I thought that he did a wonderful job of telling the story and maintaining good misdirection.

I loved Unbreakable and Signs was pretty good as well.

As others have said, the Village was total crap and the ending was pretty predictable.

The Happening was well directed but I think the story didn't really seem to have a true direction. It was OK, I guess. Has anyone actually seen Last Airbender?

[JonInMiddleGA]

This particular movie had pretty obvious suckage potential from the get-go. The story itself, or the overall presentation of it, has been well established by the animated series & there's just nothing about it that seemed likely to work IMO.

Beyond how badly M.N.S. can fuck something up, is there really a big audience for a movie (remake of 80's classic notwithstanding) with an action hero that's roughly 11-12 years old? And while that description isn't the entirety of Aang's character in the series, it's still a significant element of it alongside the various coming of age sub-plots. It just didn't seem like something that was going to translate well to the big screen & apparently it didn't.

[Danny]

I really enjoyed Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. And I also agree that Unbreakable is my favorite of the three. I have not seen any of his other movies as I heard them were all bad, so he is still 3 for 3 in movies of his that I have seen ;)

[Cringer]

Funny, I have liked (not loved) every M. Night movie though I put Unbreakable as one of my least favorite.

I will see this, if anything at least for the special effects. My daughter and I have been waiting for this and hopefully it makes it to film #3 because I want to see the final battles of the cartoon series in live action/cg.

[PraetorianX]

MNS has certainly gone downhill a lot in recent years.

I think Shyamalan perhaps needs to take a step back let somebody else do some writing either for or with him for a couple of movies at least and let him get back to what he's best at. Directing. From his earlier movies (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) the thing I liked best was his direction and the atmosphere that the movie had.

I haven't seen his more recent stuff, it didn't really appeal to me and I hadn't heard anything good about any of it. With that in mind, I could be wrong, but one of the main complaints I've heard is that they were poorly written.

Perhaps Shyamalan just needs to go back to the basics and refind his form. I realize of course that he wrote the earlier films too. Just think he may be trying to do too much.

I think comparing MNS to Uwe Boll is harsh though. I mean, has Boll ever actually made a decent movie? Ever?

[stevew]

In the Name of the King was freaking awesome. I don't think anyone but a true craftsman(boll) could have done that movie.

[Daimyo]

The graph of his rottentomato.com scores over time is awesome:

M. Night Shyamalan - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/m_night_shyamalan/)

[k0ruptr]

The graph of his rottentomato.com scores over time is awesome:

M. Night Shyamalan - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/m_night_shyamalan/)

lol that is awesome, its like something some random internet person created to make fun of him, but not. haha

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

hungry guys work harder. when you're nobody your passion is your life. you spend all your time cultivating and refining your work/songs/ideas.

pre pulp tarantino
the matrix guys
every band ever (more or less)
etc.

success means contracts, budgets, deadlines etc. idea turnaround is much less and expectations are much greater.

[BYU 14]

hungry guys work harder. when you're nobody your passion is your life. you spend all your time cultivating and refining your work/songs/ideas.

pre pulp tarantino
the matrix guys
every band ever (more or less)
etc.

success means contracts, budgets, deadlines etc. idea turnaround is much less and expectations are much greater.

That sums it up for me, like a one trick musical act you have your entire life to write that first album, book or movie. Then fame, money, accolades and expectations all kick in and there is nowhere to go but down if your creative well is not that deep, or your ego gets too big.

[Groundhog]

M. Night Shyamalan was killed before Signs, and replaced by Crab People.

[FF]

In the Name of the King was freaking awesome. I don't think anyone but a true craftsman(boll) could have done that movie.

do you really believe this? i havent seen this but i truly do believe uwe is seriously misunderstood.

dont get me wrong, im not trying to place uwe in the light of a genius or anything, but his points about michael bay et al are spot on IMO.

m. nights direction is fine, but he got lucky and struck gold with his sixth sense script and now we are seeing his true talents at work

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm gutted - I LOVED the last airbender cartoon and was hoping the movie would do it justice ..... will still probably see it though at some point, probably tv now.

[boberot]

My kids watch the Avatar cartoon, and I have to say it is really well done. It doesn't insult the intelligence of the kids watching it and manages to stay above the generic lowbrow pulp of kids cartoons these days. So, we had hope for the movie as well.

As far as M. Night, I thought Sixth Sense through the Village was acceptably entertaining, but The Happening is the only movie I can remember that was laugh-out-loud awful -- the only thing that kept me from leaving the theater after 30 minutes was the unintentional comedy and the utter magnificence of it's failure.

[evil homer]

saw the movie with my 10 year old son yesterday. we were really looking forward to it since we love the TV show. the dialogue was very simplistic and the acting very wooden. sokka made hayden christensen's performance in the star wars prequels seem oscar worthy. the effects were well done, but that was about the best part of it. my son was also disappointed, and it takes a lot to disappoint a 10 year old when they go into something looking for it to be good.

[stevew]

do you really believe this? i havent seen this but i truly do believe uwe is seriously misunderstood.

dont get me wrong, im not trying to place uwe in the light of a genius or anything, but his points about michael bay et al are spot on IMO.

m. nights direction is fine, but he got lucky and struck gold with his sixth sense script and now we are seeing his true talents at work

it was sooooo bad it had to be good. Liotta turns in porno level acting.

[RedKingGold]

M. Night Shyamalan was killed before Signs, and replaced by Crab People.

CRAB PEOPLE
CRAB PEOPLE
CRAB PEOPLE

[Glengoyne]

I had fears of this when only a couple of weeks ago I saw the dreaded "M Night Shaymalan" tag line on a beloved franchise. It was the same disappointment I had when I discovered in the theater that Tim Burton was directing the second Batman movie. I nearly got up and left, and wished later that I had followed my instincts.

[Danny]

Wow, the man wrote Stuart Little, did not know that.

[RendeR]

That sums it up for me, like a one trick musical act you have your entire life to write that first album, book or movie. Then fame, money, accolades and expectations all kick in and there is nowhere to go but down if your creative well is not that deep, or your ego gets too big.



Careful, I said this in less polite terms and got told its "too simple an answer".

[Coffee Warlord]

I don't know why everyone thinks Signs was a good movie. Most ridiculous aliens, possibly ever.

[Chief Rum]

Careful, I said this in less polite terms and got told its "too simple an answer".

Wow, aren't you a sensitive little baby. So sorry I didn't have the exact same opinion as you. Can I PM you when it's okay for me to slightly disagree with your opinion in the future? Thanks.

[MacroGuru]

Wow, aren't you a sensitive little baby. So sorry I didn't have the exact same opinion as you. Can I PM you when it's okay for me to slightly disagree with your opinion in the future? Thanks.

Naw...just ask him in a public forum. Everyone's response just makes my day.

[Chief Rum]

Naw...just ask him in a public forum. Everyone's response just makes my day.

Will do. :D

[RendeR]

No Rum, not sensitive, just pointing out hte hypocrasy that runs amok here. One person says something one way, people jump his shit and beat down his opinion. Someone else says the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING in a more polite manner and no one says word 1 about it.

So for you M. night apologists:

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/randall/airbender2.jpg

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

It was the same disappointment I had when I discovered in the theater that Tim Burton was directing the second Batman movie. I nearly got up and left, and wished later that I had followed my instincts.

Probably doesn't matter, but you do realize that Tim Burton also directed the first Batman movie, right?

[kcchief19]

Seems too simplistic. While he did re-use the twist tactic in his next three movies after The Sixth Sense, there was more to the quality of those movies than just a story re-told.
They aren't "twists" they are "catches" -- there's consistently be a catch in all of his stories. A plot twist is something that changes the direction of the story that keeps you guessing what comes next. Shyamalan's stories consistently have a catch that is usually revealed only at the end. The success of the story telling is based entirely on whether the viewer sees the catch coming.

Anyone whose storytelling is based entirely on gimmicks isn't much of a story teller. Take The Sixth Sense vs. The Usual Suspects. I've watched The Usual Suspects a dozen times and it's always a good view even though you know what's coming, and you still can't catch all the lies and twists. The Sixth Sense had all the subtlety of a two-by-four to the head. You can watch it once and if you don't see the catch coming, you might be able to watch it again to see what you missed. But there's no depth or story to it -- just really obvious clues.

He's a one-trick pony. I would forgive that if he wasn't also a pompous overbearing ass. That Sci-fi fake documentary nonsense a few years ago pretty much sealed the deal on that.

[Chief Rum]

No Rum, not sensitive, just pointing out hte hypocrasy that runs amok here. One person says something one way, people jump his shit and beat down his opinion. Someone else says the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING in a more polite manner and no one says word 1 about it.

Actually, you are a sensitive baby and we all know it. Don't pretend otherwise. This crap here just proves it even more.

"Jump his shit", I guess, is my response and cthomer's response to your earlier post, where we both thought your response was too simple to explain what was happening. Not sure how that's taking your opinion and throwing it away. Both responses were reasoned and detailed responses. There was no vitriol thrown at you by either of us. All we did was disagree. And it wasn't even like 100% disagreement either. It was more like, well, we see your point, but we think there's more to it than that.

Am I required to respond in similar detail and saying the same things every time someone repeats something to avoid being a "hypocrite" in your eyes? Apparently so.

Maybe next time you should take a little time to actually read what I and cthomer wrote and not immediately leap into your Persecution Complex.

Like Robin Williams says in Good Will Hunting, "It's not about you!"

[Tigercat]

No Rum, not sensitive, just pointing out hte hypocrasy that runs amok here. One person says something one way, people jump his shit and beat down his opinion. Someone else says the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING in a more polite manner and no one says word 1 about it.
[/IMG]

Nearly every discussion forum in the world works like this? Well maybe not a bad sports talk radio show that gears only towards homers who will stick with "our team sucks" or "our team is great" based on the times. But beyond that, as human beings we generally want to evolve to complex or reasonable sounding discussions rather than negative orpositive primate grunts. Or in the case of this discussion, something beyond "he just sucks." Just my two cents.

[cthomer5000]

I still feel the 'one hit wonder' theory is far too simple. If he had turned in the Sixth Sense and then 6 Uwe Boll movies, we could admit he pulled one out of his ass. But again, most of these movies were very successful commercially, and at least reasonably well-received critically.

It hasn't been one-and-done really.

[RainMaker]

I was forced to see this today due to showing up late to a movie I wanted to see. Plus I had the dumb GF with me who thought it sounded interesting.

Holy shit was this horrible. I spent the 2nd half of the movie fucking around on my phone. I have seen some bad movies in my day, but this may be the worst one I've ever paid to see in a theater.

[stevew]

M. Nigh Shyama Shamala...oh fuck it Shamalain'tgoingtobedirectingin3years.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't know why everyone thinks Signs was a good movie. Most ridiculous aliens, possibly ever.

Don't feel bad, I still haven't figured out why anyone thought Sixth Sense was worth a shit. One of only two movies I've ever walked out on.

[sabotai]

....okay, I'll bite. What was the other one?

[JonInMiddleGA]

....okay, I'll bite. What was the other one?

I figured someone would end up asking that.

It was The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai ... but that wasn't actually the fault of the movie.

The movie gets going, I step out for popcorn or something, I come back and I realize that what I'm watching makes absolutely no sense. After about 20 minutes of being lost I just gave the hell up & hit the bar next door to the theater. As it turned out, and I discovered later, that they had switched the reels or something and actually did show part of Buckaroo then part of some other movie, and then switched back to Buckaroo, explaining why what I saw (the last part of the wrong reel) made no sense to me.

[CrimsonFox]

Three words: What a twist!


How do you go from Oscar nominated to looking up to Uwe Boll in 13 years?

[DataKing]

The Last Airbender was complete crap with some nice special effects. Save your money.

And am I the only one who did not see "the catch" coming in The Village? I actually rather liked that one.

[Mustang]

Three words: What a twist!

Isn't it more like.. What a tweest!

[DataKing]

Please...

[MikeVic]

Please...

Nope...

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgxMTI1OTY2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzY3NTU2Mw@@._V1._SX640_SY948_.jpg

[JediKooter]

Nice.

[CrimsonFox]

Isn't it more like.. What a tweest!

Yes Mustang, you are right :)

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cw990NCy7Q&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cw990NCy7Q&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>


Thanks DK! THat made my day!

[Anthony]

The Last Airbender was complete crap with some nice special effects. Save your money.

And am I the only one who did not see "the catch" coming in The Village? I actually rather liked that one.

i guessed what the twist was from the previews. kinda easy to figure out if you just used the twist from 6th Sense (which was a great twist). if you know to expect a major plot twist in his movies you could've seen that coming in the Village. never saw the movie though, just heard i was right.

[Logan]

Just came back from seeing Inception, and as amazing as the movie was, the best part of the night was when the preview for "Devil" came on, and towards, the end the screen flashes "from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan" and everyone in the sold out theater groaned in unison.

[sterlingice]

Bump since I noticed he was making a new movie for next year.

It's called After Earth starring Will Smith and his son with the following plot on IMDB: "One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai. When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance. "

I really want him to do well. He had such a good streak going and I enjoyed what seemed to be an attempt to emphasize storytelling and, for the most part, likeable characters. I loved Unbreakable and greatly liked Sixth Sense and Signs. I think the Village was predictable from minute one and the quote I told a lot of people at the time was if he signed up as "N. Day Smith, director", reception would have been much better as the audience would not have been looking for the twist at the end. He then tried to do a fairy tale (Lady in the Water) and a remake of an old horror classic like Day of the Triffids (The Happening) but his casting choices keep getting worse with each movie. He went from Bruce Willis (twice) to Mel Gibson to William Hurt to a miscast Paul Giamatti to Marky Mark, Zooey, and Luigi. I haven't seen The Last Airbender but I expect it to be bad.

So, if he bombs a Will Smith movie (granted, from the plot summary, it sounds more like a Jaden Smith movie), is he done done?

SI

[Swaggs]

So, if he bombs a Will Smith movie (granted, from the plot summary, it sounds more like a Jaden Smith movie), is he done done?

SI

If you check out the box offices from his films, the only financial bomb is Lady in the Water.

Just going off wiki:

Sixth Sense: $672M
Unbreakable: $248M
Signs: $408M
The Village: $256M
Lady in the Water: $72M
The Happening: $163M
The Last Airbender: $319M
Devil: $62M

The only film on the list that cost more than $75M to produce was Airbender (listed at $150M) and Lady in the Water is listed at $75M, so it isn't like he is a bad bet for studios to invest in. I can't find what Devil cost to produce, but I cannot imagine it was much, as it had no notable actors (although Logan Marshall-Green and Chris Messina have been getting more popular, I guess) and didn't seem to be too heavy on scenery or special effects (75% of the film was inside an elevator car).

Despite the lack of recent, critical success, he still has an audience and is a pretty reliable, bankable director. I'd guess this new film will have a bigger budget, but I wouldn't bet against Will Smith. He hasn't had a film gross less than $150M in over 10-years and outside of a couple of more artsy films (Ali and The Legend of Bagger Vance), you have to go back almost 20-years.

[sterlingice]

The Last Airbender made $319M worldwide. Color me surprised. It made $131M here and had a $150M budget.

SI

[chadritt]

When there are books written about you being tough to deal with you better do more than occasionally make your money back. Especially when you are somehow given reigns to what is supposed to be a franchise in the airbender movies.

Also those numbers are either WAY off or his movies make a ton of money internationally, which is less important anyway.

[dubb93]

Also those numbers are either WAY off or his movies make a ton of money internationally, which is less important anyway.

Money is money IMO. That said I don't really care about M. Night. I do care about money though! Sign me up for a million from Zimbabwe for all I care!

[chadritt]

my point was that international money means less to the people bankrolling his films, they get less of it.

[JediKooter]

When there are books written about you being tough to deal with you...

That's the exact same word on the street that I heard about him in my neck of the woods. In addition to complete absenteeism in post production, makes for a bad combination.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

So it's like After Mash, but different.

[JediKooter]

So it's like After Mash, but different.

Yes, but, Klinger doesn't marry Soon Lee in this version.

[chadritt]

That's the exact same word on the street that I heard about him in my neck of the woods. In addition to complete absenteeism in post production, makes for a bad combination.

I dont get that. How can you be so involved in the process for so long and then just vanish for post production? Even if you dont want to be there every day, which is FINE by the way and usually a good idea if youre not doing the cutting yourself, you need to check in every so often or youre not going to get what you want out of something you just worked years on.

In my mind it would also explain a lot about why his movies havent been turning out so well the last few times.

[JediKooter]

I dont get that. How can you be so involved in the process for so long and then just vanish for post production? Even if you dont want to be there every day, which is FINE by the way and usually a good idea if youre not doing the cutting yourself, you need to check in every so often or youre not going to get what you want out of something you just worked years on.

I don't get it either. My only source is from the Last Airbender. We did the bulk of the effects work and sound design. Review dailies? Maybe. Give feedback on confirming the final look of creatures or other effects shots? Rarely. Approve the sound design? I don't think he cared. Most of this is second hand knowledge, but, it comes from a rather high ranking employee (in addition to others that worked on the project) and that M.N.S. would not be welcomed back to the studio for quite some time.

[Julio Riddols]

With a character named Cypher Raige, its bound to be retarded.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

felt like airbender was 'here's a franchise i can hook my wagon to that'll pull my name out of the muck commercially'

didn't that 'devil' movie come out around the same time? and he took his name off that so people would actually give it a chance

iirc he's got a syfy show coming too

[Suicane75]

Call me crazy but I've liked every movie of his I've seen (Airbender and Lady In The Water being the ones I haven't). I thought Devil was solid, Village was awesome and I may be the only person on Earth who thought The Happening was an amazing film.

[21C]

You are crazy.

[chadritt]

He didnt direct devil, i would imagine he was just a name attached to it to try and get some funding.

[stevew]

I thought that James Cameron getting the title Avatar was criminal, and it probably cost the Last Airbender 20-50M at the box office

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

if you edited all his movies down you'd have one really good twilight zone episode

[Groundhog]

I loved 6th Sense and Unbreakable, liked Signs despite its cornyness, thought Lady/Village were woeful, and haven't seen anything else of his since. As others have said, he screwed himself by boxing himself in to big reveals... when you KNOW there's a reveal going to happen, it dramatically reduces the impact of it once it occurs.

To be honest I sorta think the real M. Night Shyamalan died right after Signs and was replaced by a semi-competent body double.

[CrimsonFox]

It isn't just the "big reveals" and "twists". It is that every scene has this forced tension. It just doesn't work in every scene.

[Passacaglia]

I'm still waiting for the big reveal of what the M stands for.

[Groundhog]

I'm still waiting for the big reveal of what the M stands for.

Manoj........... OR IS IT?!