Ever since Split clawed its way onto screens earlier this year and made a huge splash, revealing itself to be a pseudo-sequel to Unbreakable in the process, we’ve all been wondering what was next for filmmaker M. Night Shyalaman. Would it be the final installment in his Unbreakable trilogy? Or would he hold off and make something else first? The answer, my friends, is the former.
On January 18th, 2019, Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures will unleash Glass upon the world. It is the follow-up to both Unbreakable and Split and it will see the return of the two leads from each film. That’s right! The wild lives of David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy), The Horde (James McAvoy), and Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) will be colliding in one final thriller that deconstructs superhero tropes!
The filmmaker officially announced the project via a today. Here are the collected statements…
“Okay. Here we go. Finished the new script.”
It’s taken 17 years but I can finally answer the #1 question I get, “Are you making a f—ing sequel to Unbreakable or what?”
“My new film is the sequel to #Unbreakable AND #Split. It was always my dream to have both films collide in this third film.”
“The iconic Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn.”
“The incomparable Samuel L Jackson will return as Elijah Price/Mr. Glass.”
“The virtuoso James McAvoy returns as Kevin Wendell Crumb, Patricia, Dennis, Hedwig, Barry, Jade, Orwell, The Beast, Heinrich, Norma, Pol-”
“And the prodigy, Anya Taylor Joy will return as Casey Cooke.”
“I’m reteaming with my partners Jason Blum and Universal Pictures for this crazy comic book thriller.”
“And the film is called GLASS…”
“Universal Pictures will release #Glass on January 18, 2019 all over the world. How’s that for not keeping a secret!”
Fantastic! I have seen a lot of new films this year and while there are many that I really liked, there have only been two so far that I love. Split is one of them. I was rooting for M. Night Shyamalan from his big break (The Sixth Sense) up through most of his original works, but he seemed to lose his way after awhile. I had always hoped he would recharge creatively as a filmmaker and fire back with another winner.
Teaming up with Blumhouse and Universal on the low budget, EC Comics-esque The Visit seemed to really bring him back to that level, even if I wasn’t overly enthralled with the film itself. Split was his second pairing with Blumhouse and Universal and it resulted in him crafting his best film since the early ’00s. I was a bit worried that he might just dive right back in to mid-to-high budget territory again right after it made big money earlier this year. After all, that’s what knee-capped his career years ago and here he was with a hit potentially affording him such projects again.
I’m glad he’s eschewed that path for now, in favor of sticking with Blumhouse. The fact that the next film is the closing chapter in his Unbreakable trilogy is merely the cherry on top. Say what you will about some of his offerings in the latter ’00s, but Shyamalan appears to be firing on all cylinders once more. I, for one, couldn’t be happier.
