Today several media outlets reported that Indian-American horror director M. Night Shyamalan has ended his seven-year association with Universal and moved to Warner Bros. and that the two sides have signed a “first priority deal” for the new film “Trap. will be released by Warner on August 2, 2024.
The 29-year-old Shyamalan wowed the film industry in 1999 with ‘The Sixth Sense’ (a Disney release) and has worked with several major Hollywood companies over the past 20 years.
His career suffered major setbacks when ‘The Last Airbender’ (Paramount) in 2010 and ‘After Earth’ (Sony) in 2013 flopped at the box office.
In 2015 Shyamalan and Universal began working together, starting with the small budget ‘The Visit’ to test the waters, and in 2016 ‘Split’ and 2019 ‘Glass’ allowed him to win market recognition again and become the meat and potatoes of Hollywood again.
Except for the two box office flops ‘The Last Airbender’ and ‘After Earth’, Shyamalan’s work is characterized by relatively small investments and a relatively high market return.
Over the past 20 years, seven of his directorial works have won opening titles, and the cumulative worldwide box office of his directorial works exceeds $3.3 billion.
Shyamalan has worked with all six major Hollywood studios
2016 ‘The Visit’ Universal
2013 ‘After Earth’ Sony
2010 ‘The Last Airbender’ Paramount
2008 ‘The Happening’ Fox
2006 ‘Lady in the Water’ Warner
2002 ‘Signs’ Disney