M. Night Shyamalan's comeback has been official since "Split" topped the box-office for three weekends in a row. It had practically made $100 million in those three weekends alone and has made, overall, close to $150+ million. An all out smash for Blumhouse and Universal. The film had a budget of $9 million. I thought it was a silly, but well-orchestrated film that benefited from James McAvoy's incredible performance.
Although the title of this post should already be an indicator, Bruce Willis' superhero from "Unbreakable" shows up to reveal what will likely be a melding of both films for a future sequel. I have been an avid admirer of Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," at the very least a toss-up with "The Sixth Sense "for his best film. There have always been rumors of a sequel happening and I always looked forward to that. One reason why "Unbreakable" was so good was that it deconstructed the superhero genre to its core and didn't reveal itself as being a superhero movie until its very last frame.
The "Split" sequel will be titled "Glass" as in Mr. Glass, the villain from M Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," as played by Samuel L Jackson. It looks like we're entering a Shyamalan superhero cinematic universe. I say, why not? "Glass" is set for a 2019 release and would likely go full on creature vs superhero ... We finally have an official synopsis as well, thanks to Universal:
"From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast."
"Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb's superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men."
"This riveting culmination of his worldwide blockbusters will be produced by Shyamalan and Jason Blum, who also produced the writer/director's previous two films for Universal. They produce again with Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock, and Steven Schneider, who will executive produce."
With all that being said, I do love the fact that people who have never seen "Unbreakable" are now, all thanks to "Split," going to discover this hidden gem of the aughts. A superhero movie that never got it due, but will stand the test of time.
"Glass" is set for release January 19th, 2019.