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Here’s a new edition of “Directors at the Box Office”, which seeks to explore the directors’ trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it’s M. Night Shyamalan’s turn.
As a kid, Shyamalan attended a Roman Catholic grammar school, where he felt like an outsider and remembers that teachers would say that whoever was not baptized would go to hell. When he was a student there, a teacher once became upset because he “got the best grade in religion class and [he] wasn’t Catholic”. Shyamalan had an early desire to be a filmmaker when he was given a Super 8 camera at a young age. Though his father wanted him to follow in the family practice of medicine, his mother encouraged him to follow his passion. By the time he was 17, he had made 45 home movies. He studied at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he decided to add “Night” to his credit name.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That’s the point of this post. To analyze his career.
#**Praying with Anger (1992)**
*”In a land torn apart by hate, he found the strength to love.”*
His first film. It stars Shyamalan and a few friends, and follows a young Indian American’s return to India and explores the clash of Western values with those of the Indian subcontinent.
This was done as a student film for his college, so the film never received a wide release. The film played just at film festivals.
#**Wide Awake (1998)**
*”First kisses. Outrageous pranks. A teacher with a killer fastball. To survive this year, Joshua Beal will have to stay…”**
His second film. It stars Denis Leary, Dana Delany, Joseph Cross, and Rosie O’Donnell, and follows a 10-year-old boy who goes on a search for God after his grandfather dies.
Shyamalan has described Wide Awake as a comedy that he hoped would also make people cry. The film was made in 1995, but was not released until 1998. Reactions were quite negative, and the film didn’t get a wide release, earning a poor $305,704 in its limited run.
– **Budget:** $6,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $305,704.
– **Worldwide gross:** $305,704.
#**The Sixth Sense (1999)**
*”Not every gift is a blessing.”*
His third film. It stars Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams and Haley Joel Osment, and follows Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist whose child patient claims he can see and talk to the dead.
As Shyamalan finished a spec script, David Vogel, then-president of production of Walt Disney Studios, read and loved it. Without obtaining corporate approval, Vogel bought the rights, despite the price of $3 million and the stipulation that Shyamalan could direct the film. Disney dismissed Vogel from his position at the studio, and Vogel left the company shortly thereafter. Disney sold the production rights to Spyglass Entertainment, while retaining the distribution rights and 12.5% of the film’s box office takings.
Shyamalan was very strict over casting the right kid to play Cole, but he decided that Haley Joel Osment was the right actor. When Disney got involved, they decided to get Bruce Willis cast on the film. This was because Willis was filming Disney’s *Broadway Brawler*, only to decide to fire people halfway through filming, prompting Disney to cancel the film. Instead of suing him, Disney put him in a contract where he’d have to appear in 3 films at a reduced fee. He already did *Armageddon*, and this would mark his second film. He was paid $14 million (one-third of the budget) and he secured 17% of the film’s global box office earnings, along with additional rights to home video sales.
Disney released the film on August, usually a slow period for movies. On its first weekend, the film debuted with $26 million, which was the biggest debut for an August movie. But the huge surprise is that the film held extremely well, not dropping higher than 16% until its sixth weekend and staying at #1 for five weekends, also becoming the second film (after *Titanic*) to gross $20 million in five weekends and breaking the Labor Day weekend record ($29 million). It closed its run in North America with a colossal $293 million and a monster $672 million worldwide, becoming the ninth highest grossing film ever. When it hit DVD and VHS, it was the second biggest DVD of all time, earning $173,320,000. Thanks to his deal, Willis is estimated to have earned $100 million.
The film clearly became a phenomenon, and it received acclaim from critics and audiences. The twist ending has become one of cinema’s most iconic twists and launched Shyamalan’s career to superstar. The film received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Osment, Best Supporting Actress for Collette, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. While it didn’t win Oscars, Shyamalan was now the biggest newcomer in Hollywood.
– **Budget:** $40,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $293,506,292.
– **Worldwide gross:** $672,806,432.
#**Unbreakable (2000)**
*”Are you ready for the truth?”*
His fourth film. It stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard. In the film, David Dunn survives a train crash with no injuries, leading to the realization that he harbors superhuman abilities. As he begins to grapple with this discovery, he comes to the attention of disabled comic book store owner Elijah Price, who manipulates David to understand him.
Shyamalan started writing a film based on the outline of a comic book’s traditional three-part structure (the superhero’s “birth”, his struggles against general evil-doers, and the hero’s ultimate battle against the “archenemy”). He was fascinated by the “birth” act, and decided that he should do an origin story. While editing *The Sixth Sense*, he already had a spec script and envisioned Willis and Samuel L. Jackson to play the leads.
After the colossal success of his film, Shyamalan gave Disney a first-look deal for *Unbreakable*. In return, Disney purchased Shyamalan’s screenplay at a “spec script record” for $5 million. He was also given another $5 million to direct. Shyamalan said that he wanted to market the film as a comic book movie, but Disney preferred to advertise it as a supernatural thriller like *The Sixth Sense*.
Highly anticipated as Shyamalan’s follow-up, it had a great start, earning $46 million across the five-day Thanksgiving debut. But while his previous film held insanely well, this wasn’t as lucky, closing with $95 million domestically and $248 million worldwide. Still a success, although far off from *The Sixth Sense*. Critical reactions were generally positive, while audience reactions were negative; many felt misled by the marketing and were frustrated by the film’s slow pacing and little action. Shyamalan was disappointed by these reactions, blaming Disney for their misleading marketing. As time went on, however, its reputation improved and is now seen as one of Shyamalan’s best films.
– **Budget:** $75,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $95,011,339.
– **Worldwide gross:** $248,118,121.
#**Signs (2002)**
*”It’s happening.”*
His fifth film. It stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. Its story focuses on a former Episcopal priest named Graham Hess who discovers a series of crop circles in his cornfield and that the phenomenon is a result of extraterrestrial life.
Shyamalan wanted to make a film that consisted of two ideas: a family finding a crop circle and the end of the world. After watching *You Can Count on Me*, he cast Rory Culkin and Mark Ruffalo in the film. However, Ruffalo required surgery for a tumor behind his ear and was unable to work on the film, so a week before filming the role was recast with Joaquin Phoenix. He wanted an old man to play Graham, although he was forced to make him a bit younger after Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood turned it down.
Thanks to a killer marketing campaign by Disney, the film broke records. It opened with $60 million, becoming one of the biggest debuts in August and in Disney’s history. It closed with $227 million domestically and $408 million worldwide. The film earned very good reviews, although some criticized its ending as anticlimactic.
– **Budget:** $72,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $227,966,634.
– **Worldwide gross:** $408,247,917.
#**The Village (2004)**
*”There is no turning back.”*
His sixth film. It stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, and Brendan Gleeson. The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as “Those We Don’t Speak Of.”
Like other Shyamalan productions, this film had high levels of secrecy surrounding it, to protect the expected twist ending that became a Shyamalan trademark. Despite that, the script was stolen over a year before the film was released, prompting many “pre-reviews” of the film on several Internet film sites and much fan speculation about plot details.
The film was anticipated for its marketing, and it opened with $50 million. But the film faced poor word of mouth, and closed with $114 million domestically and $256 million worldwide. Still a success, but the film had very little staying power. While critics had their reservations on Shyamalan’s previous films, this project was more negatively received by critics and audiences. The big setback was the film’s twist ending; some found it predictable, while others found it frustrating and cheap. Combined with some critical of *Signs*’ ending, it was becoming clear that Shyamlan wasn’t fully delivering with his endings.
– **Budget:** $60,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $114,197,520.
– **Worldwide gross:** $256,697,520.
#**Lady in the Water (2006)**
*”Time is running out for a happy ending.”*
His seventh film. It stars Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin and Jared Harris. The film follows the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex who discovers a young woman in the swimming pool. Gradually, he and his neighbors learn that she is a water nymph (or Narf) whose life is in danger from a vicious, wolf-like, mystical creature called a Scrunt that tries to keep her from returning to her watery “blue world.”
Originally, the film was going to be financed and distributed by Disney, just like his past four films. In the book *The Man Who Heard Voices* by Michael Bamberger, Shyamalan explained into detail what happened. Shyamalan had a close friendship with Disney production President Nina Jacobson, who shepherded his previous films at the company. They met to discuss this film at a hotel, with Jacobson saying she had issues with the script. When she told him that she and her boss, studio Chairman Dick Cook, didn’t “get” the idea, Shyamalan was heartbroken. Things got only worse when she lambasted his inclusion of a mauling of a film critic in the story line and told Shyamalan his decision to cast himself as a visionary writer out to change the world bordered on self-serving.
As the book says, Shyamalan felt that when executives criticized his script “they were rejecting him.” So he walked. As he left, Cook spoke with him alone. He told him, “Just make the movie for us. We’ll give you $60 million and say, ‘Do what you want with it.’ We won’t touch it. We’ll see you at the premiere.” Shyamalan said he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t work with those who doubted him. As Cook and his team left the hotel, Shyamalan broke down and cried. Feeling that Disney “no longer valued individualism”, Shyamalan eventually presented the project to Warner Bros., who agreed to finance the film with a slightly higher budget.
If Shyamalan was sad over Jacobson’s comments, he was probably even sadder when the box office numbers came in. The film opened with just $17 million, which marked his worst opening weekend of his wide releases. It closed with just $72 million, becoming a box office flop. On top of that, it had the worst reviews of Shyamalan’s career; critics and audiences lambasted it for its poor suspense, thin characterization, writing, dialogue and jarring tone. But most importantly, Shyamalan was accused of being pretentious: instead of having a minor cameo, as in most of his films, Shyamalan cast himself as a visionary whose writing changes the world, and another character included a film critic — portrayed by actor Bob Balaban as arrogant, self-assured, and passive — who comes to a violent end. Many reviewers attacked this perceived self-indulgence in their reviews, especially commenting on Shyamalan’s comments about his meeting with Disney executives. Whatever the case, that day, Shyamalan got a reality check.
– **Budget:** $70,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $42,285,169.
– **Worldwide gross:** $72,785,169.
#**The Happening (2008)**
*”We’ve sensed it. We’ve seen the signs. Now… it’s happening.”*
His eighth film. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, and Betty Buckley and revolves around an inexplicable natural disaster causing mass suicides.
After the disaster of *Lady in the Water*, Shyamalan struggled in selling his spec script for something called *The Green Effect*. While studios read it, they were not interested in greenlighting it. As a result, Shyamalan began taking notes and collecting ideas from meetings before returning home to Philadelphia to rewrite his script. Eventually, 20th Century Fox bought the script and Mark Wahlberg joined to play the lead. He described the film as a 1960s paranoia film similar to *The Birds* and *Invasion of the Body Snatchers*.
The film fared better than *Lady in the Water* at the box office, although it was still below his previous collaborations with Disney. On reception, however, the film fared even worse. It was panned for its lack of logic, lack of suspense, poor writing, stiff acting, inconsistent tone, and anticlimactic ending. Wahlberg himself admits regretting being part of the film. For years, Shyamalan claims that people didn’t get that it was supposed to be a B-movie. And while some people may see it that way, that does not a good movie make.
– **Budget:** $48,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $64,506,874.
– **Worldwide gross:** $163,403,799.
#**The Last Airbender (2010)**
*”Four nations. One destiny.”*
His ninth film. Based on the first season of the animated television series *Avatar: The Last Airbender* created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, it stars Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, and Cliff Curtis. The plot follows Aang, a young Avatar who must master all four elements of air, water, fire, and earth and restore balance to the world while stopping the Fire Nation from conquering the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.
Shyamalan came across *Avatar: The Last Airbender* when his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween. Intrigued, Shyamalan researched and watched the series with his family. He said, “Watching *Avatar* has become a family event in my house… so we are looking forward to how the story develops in season three. Once I saw the amazing world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film”. He added he was attracted to the spiritual and martial arts influences on the show. Paramount announced in 2007 that Shyamalan would direct an adaptation, based on the first season of the series.
While *Avatar: The Last Airbender* co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko expressed enthusiasm over Shyamalan’s decision for the adaptation, they later said that the project was given the go-ahead without their approval, and when they tried to provide input, it all got pushed to the wayside. Konietzko added even further that “A) We didn’t want it to be done at all. Before anyone was attached, we didn’t want it. And then B) If it was going to be done, we wanted to do it, but they weren’t going to let us. C) When they attached Night, we just thought, ‘Well, this is what we’ve been dealt. We’ll just offer help when it’s asked of us, and if it’s not, we’ll stay out of the way’. In the beginning, it was more positive and we offered help, but then we had a big falling out.”
After casting Noah Ringer and Jackson Rathbone, Shyamalan cast Nicola Peltz as Katara. Shyamalan claimed that he did not want to make *The Last Airbender* without Nicola Peltz, “I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley in *The Sixth Sense* auditions” (maybe you should google her father). Shyamalan also got Jesse McCartney as Zuko, but he was replaced by Dev Patel when scheduling conflicts arose (just think about that for one second).
These casting choices drew ire from fans of the series. The casting of white actors in the East Asian and Inuit-influenced *Avatar* universe, as well as the fact that the casting of the heroes and villains seemed to be racially backward from the show, triggered negative reactions from fans (one of which included Roger Ebert) marked by accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign, and various protests. Shyamalan claimed that the film “will be the most culturally diverse tent-pole movies ever released” and he also said the following statement:
> “Anime is based on ambiguous facial features. It’s meant to be interpretive. It’s meant to be inclusive of all races, and you can see yourself in all these characters…This is a multicultural movie and I’m going to make it even more multicultural in my approach to its casting. There’s African-Americans in the movie…so it’s a source of pride for me. The irony that [protesters] would label this with anything but the greatest pride, that the movie poster has Noah and Dev on it and my name on it. I don’t know what else to do.”
The film had a strong opening day, although the film would make just $319 million worldwide against its $150 million budget, making it a bomb and falling far short of Paramount’s expectations. It’s tough saying “this had Shyamalan’s worst reviews” for 3 films in a row… but this had Shyamalan’s worst reviews. In no time, it was clear that Shyamalan may have made not only his worst film, but one of the worst films in history. The film was criticized for its unfaithfulness to the series, action sequences, directing, acting, 90-minute runtime, CGI, 3-D, exposition, dialogue, cinematography, editing, production design and poor character development. Shyamalan said that he felt people were not fond of the “European sensibility” in his films, explaining that this was the main reason why people disliked his films, although he later admits to regret making the film. Plans for a trilogy were subsequently cancelled.
Now, if you like it or know someone who liked this movie, it is my pleasure to inform you the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.
– **Budget:** $150,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $131,772,187.
– **Worldwide gross:** $319,713,881.
#**After Earth (2013)**
*”Danger is real. Fear is a choice.”*
His tenth film. The film stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as father and son, Cypher and Kitai Raige, who find themselves crash-landing on the abandoned Earth. When Cypher gets injured from the crash, Kitai must travel across the wild environment in search of a backup beacon to fire a distress signal, while having to defend himself from the highly evolved animals, as well as an extraterrestrial creature that detects its prey by smelling fear.
Will Smith conceived this story when he was watching the television show called *I Shouldn’t Be Alive* with his brother-in-law Caleeb Pinkett. It was originally not a science fiction story but about a father and son crashing their car in the mountains or some remote region, with the son having to go out and get rescue for his father. Smith then decided to change the setting to 1000 years in the future, which imposed a higher production budget. He contacted Shyamalan to convince him in accepting to become the director. Smith wanted the film to be a star vehicle for Jaden, although the Sony executives wanted Will to become more prominent in the film.
Sony omitted Shyamalan’s name from marketing as much as possible, but disappointment still came in knocking. The film was a bomb across the world, earning just $243 million against its $130 million budget, which was even more disappointing considering Smith’s popularity. The film was also panned by critics and audiences for its directing, acting, writing, CGI and pacing. Smith later called it “the most painful failure in his career” and expressed regret over leading his son into the film.
– **Budget:** $130,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $60,522,097.
– **Worldwide gross:** $243,611,982.
#**The Visit (2015)**
*”Don’t ever leave your room after 9:30pm.”*
His 11th film. It stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn. The film centers around two young siblings, teenage girl Becca and her younger brother Tyler who go to stay with their estranged grandparents. During their stay, the siblings notice their grandparents behaving bizarrely and they set out to find the truth behind the strange circumstances at the farmstead.
Every Hollywood studio passed on the rough cut, and Shyamalan feared that he would lose the millions he had invested in the film. Shyamalan admitted that he had trouble keeping the tone for the film consistent during the editing phase, saying that the first cut of the film resembled an art house film more than a horror film. A second cut went in the opposite direction and the film became a comedy. He eventually struck a middle balance and cut the film as a thriller, which, according to him, helped tie the different elements together as they “could stay in service of the movie”. After revisions Universal Pictures agreed to distribute the film, and producer Jason Blum and his company Blumhouse Productions were included in the film’s opening.
The film attracted generally positive reviews, the best response to Shyamalan in over a decade. Thanks to its low budget, it was a box office success by earning almost $100 million worldwide. Shyamalan kept a list of Hollywood executives who had refused to distribute the film, stating in 2018 that most had since lost their jobs.
– **Budget:** $5,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $65,206,105.
– **Worldwide gross:** $98,450,062.
#**Split (2017)**
*”Kevin has 23 distinct personalities. The 24th is about to be unleashed.”*
His 12th film. It stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The film follows a man with dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility.
The character of Kevin had been in one of the early drafts of Shyamalan’s *Unbreakable*, but he had pulled the character out, stating there were balancing issues at that time. With Split, he brought in some of the scenes he had written for *Unbreakable* around Kevin. Originally, Joaquin Phoenix would play Kevin, but James McAvoy replaced him later on.
The film received very positive reviews, and it was a huge hit; with $278 million worldwide, it was Blumhouse’s highest grossing film. Commentators dubbed the film as the first-ever “stealth sequel”, and the first solo supervillain origin film. The twist ending, where it showed Bruce Willis reprising his role as David Dunn, attracted attention.
– **Budget:** $9,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $138,291,365.
– **Worldwide gross:** $278,454,417.
#**Glass (2019)**
*”You cannot contain what you are.”*
His 13th film. The film sequel to *Unbreakable* and *Split* and the third and final installment in the *Unbreakable* trilogy. It stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard. The film sees David Dunn / The Overseer as he and Kevin Wendell Crumb / The Horde are captured and placed in a psychiatric facility with Elijah Price / Mr. Glass, where they contemplate the authenticity of their superhuman powers.
Shyamalan didn’t write *Unbreakable* as a trilogy, but was interested in a sequel after the film performed well on DVD. He approached Disney about it, but Disney was not interested in a sequel as they considered the film a financial disappointment. He wanted to introduce David Dunn in *Split*, so Shyamalan had to obtain permission from Disney to use the character as they owned the film. He met with Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey and came to a gentlemen’s agreement, whereby Bailey agreed to allow the use of the character in the film without a fee, and Shyamalan promised that Disney would be involved in a sequel, if it was developed. After the success of *Split*, a sequel was greenlit, with Universal handling domestic markets and Disney handling international markets.
While the previous films were well received, however, it looks like Shyamalan botched the ending. It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and audiences, who found the film “disappointing” and “underwhelming” due to the story, particularly the third act. It was still a box office success, although it was the lowest grossing film in the trilogy. Shyamalan himself said that he cried with the film’s negative reviews.
– **Budget:** $20,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $111,048,468.
– **Worldwide gross:** $246,999,039.
#**Old (2021)**
*”It’s only a matter of time.”*
His 14th film. Based on the graphic novel *Sandcastle* by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, it stars Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, and Emun Elliott. The plot follows a group of people who find themselves aging rapidly on a secluded beach.
The film opened with $16 million, which marked Shyamalan’s worst opening weekend. It closed with $90 million worldwide, making it a box office success, but also becoming one of his lowest grossing films. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, particularly for its dialogue, acting and twist ending.
– **Budget:** $18,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $48,276,510.
– **Worldwide gross:** $90,146,510.
#**Knock at the Cabin (2023)**
*”Save your family or save humanity. Make your choice.”*
His 15th film. Based on the novel *The Cabin at the End of the World* by Paul G. Tremblay, it stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint. In the film, a family vacationing at a remote cabin is suddenly held hostage by four strangers, who ask for a human sacrifice in order to save humanity.
The film received mixed reviews, especially for its execution and changes to the original book. Even though the film cost just $20 million, it fell short of the expectations that Shyamalan and Universal were hoping. At best, it only broke even, but it was his worst performer of all his wide releases.
– **Budget:** $20,000,000.
– **Domestic gross:** $35,397,980.
– **Worldwide gross:** $54,760,947.
#**The Future**
He will release his next film, *Trap*, on August 2, 2024. Not much details are known, only that it stars Josh Hartnett and his daughter Saleka Shyamalan.
#**Other Projects**
He has also written two films he didn’t direct. The most popular was *Stuart Little*, and the other was *Devil*.
In television, he was involved with two series. The first was *Wayward Pines*, where he directed the first episode. The other was *Servant*, where he directed more episodes. He has also appeared in episodes of *Entourage* and *This Is Us*.
#**MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)**
No. | Movie | Year | Studio | Domestic Total | Overseas Total | Worldwide Total | Budget |
———-|———-|:——–:|———-|:——–:|:——–:|:——–:|:——–:
1 | *The Sixth Sense* | 1999 | Disney | $293,506,292 | $379,300,140 | $672,806,432 | $40M
2 | *Signs* | 2002 | Disney | $227,966,634 | $180,281,283 | $408,247,917 | $72M
3 | *The Last Airbender* | 2010 | Paramount | $131,772,187 | $187,941,694 | $319,713,881 | $150M
4 | *Split* | 2017 | Universal | $138,291,365 | $140,163,052 | $278,454,417 | $9M
5 | *The Village* | 2004 | Disney | $114,197,520 | $142,500,000 | $256,697,520 | $60M
6 | *Unbreakable* | 2000 | Disney | $95,011,339 | $153,106,782 | $248,118,121 | $75M
7 | *Glass* | 2019 | Universal / Disney | $111,048,468 | $135,950,571 | $246,999,039 | $20M
8 | *After Earth* | 2013 | Sony | $60,522,097 | $183,089,885 | $243,611,982 | $130M
9 | *The Happening* | 2008 | 20th Century Fox | $64,506,874 | $98,896,925 | $163,403,799 | $48M
10 | *The Visit* | 2015 | Universal | $65,206,105 | $33,243,957 | $98,450,062 | $5M
11 | *Old* | 2019 | Universal | $48,276,510 | $41,870,000 | $90,146,510 | $18M
12 | *Lady in the Water* | 2006 | Warner Bros. | $42,285,169 | $30,500,000 | $72,785,169 | $70M
13 | *Knock at the Cabin* | 2023 | Universal | $35,397,980 | $19,362,967 | $54,760,947 | $20M
14 | *Wide Awake* | 1998 | Miramax | $305,704 | $0 | $305,704 | $6M
He made 15 films, but only 14 have reported box office grosses. Across those 14 films, she has made $3,154,501,500 worldwide. That’s $225,321,535 per movie.
#**The Verdict**
Shyamalan proved to be one of the most iconic directors of modern times. Deemed “the next Spielberg” in 2002, his box office results seemed to point that. He could create high concept films that the audience was intrigued to see, and the twist ending in *The Sixth Sense* remains one of the most popular ever.
It’s also clear, however, that his brand has been on a downward spiral. And the negative reviews that some of his films have achieved is a huge contributor to that. He was on the rise during the early 2000s, fell by 2013, rose in 2017 and then fell back again a few years later. The problem is that Shyamalan’s attempts in recreating the twist ending in *The Sixth Sense* have fallen flat and his dialogue has always been a point of criticism. *Knock at the Cabin* was his worst wide release ever, indicating that audiences are giving up on him. While he will always continue self-financing his films, it’s not a guarantee that he will return to the glory days that the early 2000s promised.
Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the [wiki for this section.](https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/wiki/directors-at-the-box-office)
The next director will be **Spike Lee**. A very important director, of course he couldn’t be missing here.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we’ll later talk about… >!Guillermo del Toro.!< Perhaps the director with the most films stuck in development hell. I guess the post should include some of his cancelled/on-hold projects.
This is the schedule for the following four:
Week | Director | Reasoning
:——-:|:——–:|———-
March 18-24 | Spike Lee | Is he really to blame for the lame *Oldboy* remake?
March 25-31 | Baz Luhrmann | 30 years, only 6 films.
April 1-7 | Terrence Malick | What’s the deal with *The Way of the Wind*?
April 8-14 | Guillermo del Toro | So… no *At the Mountains of Madness*?
Who should be next after del Toro? That’s up to you.
Source: self.boxoffice
https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/comments/1bggbqm/directors_at_the_box_office_m_night_shyamalan/
