There isn’t much to say about the next two movies that M. Night Shyamalan has on the way since it would seem that people are keeping pretty mum on the subject. But what is known at this time is that they’ll be released respectively in 2021 an 2023. This seems to indicate that they’ll be related in a very large way, much as Glass, Split, and Unbreakable were. It won’t be a part of that trilogy, nor will it seem to coincide with any of his other movies at this point, but according to Kevin Burwick of MovieWeb it’s definitely going to be something that people will be looking forward to when they start coming out. At the moment it sounds as though he’s working on a psychological thriller that is being anticipated, but as far as his movies go some people are willing to wait and be amazed, while others are wondering just what might be coming down the pipeline and if it will be worth the cost of a ticket.
Being transparent, Shyamalan has honestly made some great movies and then he’s made some equally horrible movies since no matter what the box office says, a lot of the ticket sales can be chalked up to curiosity and nothing more. Those that record the numbers don’t care about this so much since the numbers are all that matter after all since the numbers indicate profits or losses, which is all that seems to count now and again. But the general feeling about his movies has at times left a bad taste in peoples’ mouths largely because his vision sometimes leaves people unfulfilled and wondering why they bothered paying for the movie. Signs was one of them, as the alien invasion was so vague and so painstakingly low-key that it seemed as though he was trying to ramp up the tension without feeling the need to show anything of value. Then the big reveal came and it was still somehow vague and less than impressive. But then you look at a movie such as The Sixth Sense and are blown away by how much you miss throughout the movie only to realize that it was right in front of your face the entire time. A lot of people of course claimed to have known about the coming twist beforehand, but about half of them were full of it since they didn’t want to feel foolish in front of their peers. Eric Kohn of IndieWire has indicated that Shymalan has struggled with critics throughout his career and it’s kind of obvious why in some cases, but in every case it seems that he’s found ways to deal with it since he owns what he’s done and counters it in one of the best ways, he admits his own vision without any apology.
One thing about anyone that criticizes a movie, be it directed by Shymalan or anyone else, is that a great number of them have no idea about what goes into the movie, what kind of vision is being followed, and what pathways it’s going to follow and why. The point is that many people, even those that love to write and actually CAN write a halfway decent story, need to understand that Shymalan is following what he believes is noteworthy and will make a great story, and in many instances he’s been right. From The Sixth Sense to Lady in the Water to Glass he’s got a very definitive image and a great eye for telling a compelling story that people will want to watch. They won’t be perfect, they won’t be for everyone, but he’s got a vision that’s insanely dark at times and yet extremely positive at others. Even better as Sarah El-Mahmoud from CinemaBlend points out is that he hasn’t confined himself to a single type of story and has branched out a bit to try a little of just about everything at this point with only a few genres not touched upon just yet.
Without knowing too much about what’s going to happen with his next two movies it’s hard to say whether or not Shymalan is really going to soar upward yet again or find himself struggling to hang on and deal with yet another round of critics. Despite doing well at the box office Glass still garnered a great deal of criticism, enough to the point that it actually affected Shymalan’s mood it would seem. He’s past it thankfully, but at the same time it has to affect him on a deeper level than he’s willing to admit since each director that puts a movie on the line for others to watch is putting a part of themselves out there for people to see. At this point he’s definitely proven himself as a very skilled storyteller, so it’s enough to think that his next two movies will be worth watching at least.
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