Moviegoers always head into a new M. Night Shyamalan movie expecting a huge twist, but the filmmaker delivered one of his biggest surprises to date when he revealed that Split was set in the same world Unbreakable. He'd follow that with Glass, a crossover, of sorts, that divided opinions but served as an undeniably compelling sequel to his 2000 classic.
Shyamalan's career has been a fun one to follow, and ahead of Servant's return to Apple TV+ and Knock at the Cabin's release in theaters next month, he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com) about a number of topics.
Among them was The Visit, a horror movie that saw two kids sent by their mother to visit the grandparents they'd never met, only to realise that the old people "caring" for them are, in fact, a couple of escaped mental patients. It's a bonkers, highly enjoyable outing from Shyamalan, and one which very nearly also ended up tying into Glass!
Asked if he's ever considered creating a "Shyamalan-verse" of sorts, the director told the trade, "If I was smart enough to have thought about it 20 some years ago, I would’ve done it, but I wasn’t smart enough to think about it."
"There was one tie-in that I almost did. It was in Glass when they all got to the mental institution," he continued. "I was going to tell a story about The Visit and how two people escaped from that same hospital...I was going to do it, but I chickened out. So I didn’t do it."
This could have worked, and as Easter Eggs/references go, we're sure Shyamalan's fans would have appreciated it.
On the other hand. it might have also created an unrealistic expectation for all his past and future projects to take place in the same world, so we can understand why the filmmaker ultimately decided to "chicken out" as he puts it.
Needless to say, we'll still be keeping a very close eye on February's Knock at the Cabin for any signs it might have some sort of link to Shyamalan's past work...