The Happening

[Stefen]

nerd

[tpfkabi]

he's also a TERRIBLE actor.

That shower scene in Lady was horrible.

[Alexandro]

the twist at the end is that it is a happening made by a bunch of theatre students...

[Ravi]

the twist at the end is that it is a happening made by a bunch of theatre students...

I'd sort of admire Shyamalan if the twist was that the whole movie was an Improv Everywhere performance.

[MacGuffin]

[cron]

i read what the twist ending is about and it's fucking hilarious. it's on an april's fools , onion article level of ridiculousness.

[samsong]

i just read it, too.

[MacGuffin]

Red Band Trailer

[tpfkabi]

Night: I saw that video by Radiohead....what was it......the one where all the people are lying on the street?
reporter: Just?
N: yes, that one. great video. so then i set about making an entire movie explaining that one scene. and...*pause* you finally find out what that guy says at the end!

[Gamblour.]

i just read it, too.

Yeah, I wish we could just open this thread up to talk about that fucking ending.

[JG]

do it! i can't find it.

[diggler]

from what i understand it's not exactly a twist and you find out long before the end

i mean, look at the script's original title and you'll know right away

[MacGuffin]

Shyamalan's Hollywood Horror Story, With Twist
By ALLISON HOPE WEINER; NY Times

In 2000, he was on a conference call with executives from Walt Disney Studios discussing "Unbreakable," the follow-up to his phenomenally successful movie "The Sixth Sense." He wanted to market "Unbreakable" as a comic-book movie — the tale of an unlikely superhero — but Disney executives insisted on portraying it as a spooky thriller, like "The Sixth Sense."

"I remember the moment that it happened, exactly where I was sitting at the table, the speakerphone," he recalled in an interview from his office in a converted farmhouse near Philadelphia. "That moment may have been the biggest mistake that I have to undo over 10 years so the little old lady doesn't go, 'Oh, he's the guy who makes the scary movies with a twist.' "

Eight years later, movie audiences still know Mr. Shyamalan as the guy who makes scary movies with a twist.

He also has not been able to undo his reputation in Hollywood as a talented filmmaker who will not play by studio rules. After the success of "The Sixth Sense," he criticized Disney executives, dared to compare his talent to Steven Spielberg's and Alfred Hitchcock's and has steadfastly asserted his reputation as an outsider by refusing to move from Philadelphia to Hollywood.

His outsider persona continued to work for him, so long as the films "The Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable" and "Signs" continued to make money. But when his films started to falter at the box office — his last movie, "Lady in the Water," was drubbed by critics and ignored by moviegoers — the Hollywood establishment's support began to wane.

That failure has put considerable pressure on his new film, "The Happening," an R-rated horror movie for Fox that opens on June 13. Another failure would harm the Shyamalan name and make it difficult for him to keep full control over his films.

But Mr. Shyamalan, who says he has become press shy, offers no apologies and believes that some of the criticism about him was largely based on his refusal to accept Hollywood norms.

"I have two options: conform to the paths that have been laid out prior to me or deal with it," he said emphatically. "So which one do you suggest I do? I wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't denied those conventions to begin with."

His career illustrates one of the stubborn paradoxes of Hollywood: the film industry loves the myth of the auteur, the rugged individual filmmaker who plays by his own rules, until faced with the reality. Around the time that "The Sixth Sense" was released, this was a particularly potent idea, as studios tried to build brands around star directors like Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers (who made "The Matrix"), hoping their names would sell movies the way Hitchcock's once did.

But the studios also need to heed the brutal realities of the movie business. All of these directors have had high-profile stumbles that suggest moviegoers care more about what is on the screen than what is above the title. And unlike animated brands like Shrek, real-life characters like Mr. Shyamalan can prove difficult to work with.

"It never really worked," argues David Weitzner, the former head of worldwide marketing for Universal and an adjunct professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. "It's pomposity on the part of studios to think that the public is going to respond to an advertising message that says to see the film because it's from the director of another film. It's stupid and to some degree, it's fueled by ego."

Even given their limited success with marketing brands, studio marketing departments continue to use the method to sell films. "They're marketing anything they can find to market because we're living in a time where it's so competitive and difficult," said Michael Taylor, chairman of the film and television production division at the School of Cinematic Arts.

Mr. Shyamalan, who will get his name above the title for "The Happening," still believes that a director's name on the marquee — one that is not Steven Spielberg's — can sell a blockbuster as easily as a star's can.

"The problem is the assumption that if I am selling the movie — because I'm selling me — that I'm being egotistical. If Will Smith did the same thing, it would be perceived very differently," he said. "You're supposed to be hidden if you're a director. That's a rule that who said in the movie business?"

Born in India, Mr. Shyamalan was raised in suburban Philadelphia by his parents, both doctors who knew little about the film industry. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, then made two commercially unsuccessful films, "Praying With Anger" (1992) and "Wide Awake" (1998), before selling his screenplay for "The Sixth Sense" to Disney for $3 million. The movie, made for about $40 million, grossed more than $600 million worldwide.

Since then, the numbers have been going in the wrong direction. After "Signs" grossed more than $400 million worldwide, "The Village" took in only $255 million. "Lady in the Water," which opened in 2006, had a budget of about $75 million and made less than $70 million.

As the box office started to stumble, the elements that had made his movies different — the Pennsylvania settings, the themes about faith, the unexpected endings — became a basis for criticism.

Mr. Shyamalan broke off his relationship with Disney when he made "Lady in the Water" at Warner Brothers, part of Time Warner. But then he committed the greatest sin of all — he criticized a meeting with Disney studio executives, Nina Jacobson, Dick Cook and Oren Aviv, in a book by Michael Bamberger, "The Man Who Heard Voices."

In the book, which received a huge amount of press, Mr. Shyamalan accused Ms. Jacobson of not giving his "Lady in the Water" script "a truthful reading" and said that he thought that it had been rejected because Disney "no longer valued individualism."

He also contended that despite Disney's misgivings about making "Lady in the Water," it had ultimately agreed to make the film, but he had refused the offer because he felt that it no longer had faith in him.

The Hollywood establishment was outraged by the book and Mr. Shyamalan's public recitation of what are considered very private matters. (Disney executives, through a spokesman, declined to comment for this article.)

The book was slaughtered by reviewers, who focused some of their harshest criticisms on the subject. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it sycophantic and embarrassing. "Who is M. Night Shyamalan? The point is that you're supposed to know already," Ms. Maslin wrote.

The good news for Mr. Shyamalan is that many in Hollywood still believe his name can sell tickets. It helps that he has a reputation as an economical filmmaker, someone who comes to the set prepared and who comes in on time and on budget — all rare commodities in Hollywood.

"I respect Night as a filmmaker and loved working with him," said Alan F. Horn, president of Warner Brothers Entertainment, which produced "Lady in the Water. "I supported the premise of the movie and what he was trying to accomplish, but sometimes movies work and sometimes they don't. I wouldn't blame the book because I don't think enough people read the book."

Twentieth Century Fox, part of News Corporation, hired him to write and direct "The Happening" in part because it is a return to the kind of scary movie brand that made him famous.

"Night in conjunction with this material is a fantastic pairing," said Hutch Parker, now chairman of New Regency, who worked on "The Happening" while at Fox. " 'The Happening' does draw back in its intentions to what Night first did in 'The Sixth Sense.' It speaks more directly and clearly to that genre than some of his previous films."

Mr. Shyamalan is also directing "Avatar: The Last Airbender," a big tent-pole movie based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, scheduled to be released in 2010 for Paramount.

"I obviously did my homework and checked him out before deciding to make the movie. It's a very important movie for us," said John Lesher, president of the Paramount Film Group. "He's collaborative, open to suggestions and wants to make a hit movie. He's open in the right way. You want a filmmaker who has passion and want him to defend why he believes something is correct."

Mr. Shyamalan admits to being slightly more open now. In an effort to dispel perceptions in Hollywood that he is arrogant, he has spent more time in Los Angeles recently. But while saying that he is sorry for any hurt feelings at Disney, he still does not understand why many in Hollywood are so critical of him for turning down Disney's offer.

"You'd want me to take the money? You'd want me to whore out. That's what they wanted me to do," he said. "You know how hard it is not to do the conservative thing out there?"

[tpfkabi]

I noticed they're stressing that this is his first R rated film in the tv ads.

[MacGuffin]