I was one of the select few that actually really enjoyed Lady in the Water so I am happy to see all studios haven’t abandoned M. Night Shyamalan yet, but I am sure the reigns are tightening on the fading helmer as 20th Century Fox has decided to greenlight his next feature, The Happening.
The biggest key to this story however might not be that Shyamalan is still getting the green, it is that this will be his first R rated feature. Yeah, R. It isn’t going to be his usual PG-13 thriller that will hide all the violence and tease the audience to no end with its clever marketing. Hmmm, a little more intrigued now aren’t you?
The Happening is described as a paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity.
The film is set to begin filming from Night’s own script in Philly this August with an anticipated June 2008 release with a budget of around $57 million. This throws it into the same month as Universal’s Incredible Hulk, Warner Bros. Get Smart, DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda and the latest Disney/Pixar film WALL• E. Night is currently finishing up his script for Avatar: The Last Airbender for Paramount which is expected to lense in 2008.
The Happening was previously titled The Green Effect and word around the script when it first made the rounds was that it wasn’t too good, so after notes from studio execs and a rewrite Night told Variety that several studios were interested but he decided on Fox thanks to exec Tom Rothman’s enthusiasm and “because the studio has demonstrated acumen in marketing similar apocalyptic fare like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow.” Night was quoted saying, “One palpable change in the film was the decision to dial up the scare factor, thus inviting the R rating.”
Will this film be good or will Night now have problems with not only Disney and Warner? Will he add Fox to the list? Because after Fox and his next movie with Paramount there aren’t any more “major” options.
