At one time, M. Night Shyamalan was the toast of Hollywood, having directed such hits as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. But as time went on, his name became less of a draw, especially after he treated us to such “gems” as Signs, The Village, The Happening and The Last Airbender. When laid out like that, his resume has more misses than hits, putting him on par with the Wachowskis, but I digress.
Fortunately for him, there’s been a turnaround of sorts in recent years, with Split having garnered much acclaim. Given that, there seems to be a renewed sense of confidence surrounding his brand as it were, even if the ax just came down on Wayward Pines.
With that, Apple is going all in on Shyamalan, hiring him to executive produce a new thriller that’s already been given a straight-to-series order. Currently without a title, the show will consist of 10 half-hour episodes, with Shyamalan also set to direct the premiere to be written by Tony Basgallop.
Additionally, it’ll be produced by Shyamalan’s Blinding Edge Pictures, with Ashwin Rajan also serving as executive producer. Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists will also executive produce, with Taylor Latham co-executive producing.
Plot details are also currently shrouded in mystery, but it just seems like a no-brainer that this series won’t be of the everyday variety. Rather, we expect for Basgallop (24: Legacy) and the director of Split to come up with something that’ll be quite out of the ordinary and, hopefully, just as riveting.