A massive secret that was 18 years in the making.
As the finale unfolded in Split, audiences barely had time to gather their thoughts before the real cliffhanger took centre stage.
As always with an M. Night Shyamalan film, consider this to be your spoiler alert warning about all things Glass.
Actually, his work sort of modernised the spoiler alert warning.
Anyway…
After Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) managed to evade the clutches of Dennis/The Horde’s multiple personalities, Split ended on something of a dour note because The Beast was unleashed on the streets of Philadelphia.
Shortly after that adrenaline-pumping finale, we were treated to a scene in a solemn and silent diner as frightened onlookers observed the events on TV and recoiled in horror.
Slowly, a familiar figure crept into shot as audience gasped in collective acknowledgment.
Bruce Willis’ character from Unbreakable – the quiet, solemn, but tough as nails David Dunn – was back and the penny had finally dropped, both films were connected.
In a world of spoilers, Twitter and instant messaging, the fact that this bombshell remained a secret is a large part of why Glass is so highly-anticipated ahead of its release on 18 January.
It also helps that the film boasts a magnificent cast that includes the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson and Bruce Willis.
JOE had the chance to chat with M. Night Shyamalan and we had to ask him if he always intended on creating a trilogy?
“Glass is coming from the source material and that was the original outline for Unbreakable,” says the director.
“All three films (Unbreakable, Split, Glass) were from that but I didn’t have time to fit all the characters into it (Unbreakable). Elijah (Price) was originally more of a benevolent figure, but on a graphic of character and plot, the higher the plot and action beats, it squeezes character.
“The original plot for Unbreakable was really high but I felt there was no space to explore the grey in David Dunn. You know, why was his marriage failing, why is he questioning himself, what’s his place in the world, why isn’t he a good dad?”
The Oscar-nominated director even had James McAvoy’s character from Split (Kevin Wendell Crumb) in his original draft.
“That’s why I took Kevin out of Unbreakable because the jeopardy that he places these three abducted women in just wouldn’t sit right with those scenes where we get to know David,” Shyamalan explains.
“I always felt he would be a separate movie and from that, the character of Elijah and the plot kicked in.”
This being said, despite 18 years passing since Unbreakable was released, the director always had the intention of introducing the three characters to each other.
“You know, I don’t think we really talked about it that openly because we were concentrating about making Split as a thriller. Towards the end, I did talk to him [Bruce Willis] about it.
“Let’s see if we can do one together. Bruce came to the premiere of Split and we snuck him in so audiences wouldn’t see him. The first time I took a photo of the three of us together, I was like ‘You guys are gonna meet soon’ and we knew by then that we would be going ahead.”
Almost two decades may have passed since Unbreakable but Shyamalan always had a very clear vision for this trilogy. However, he did admit that there have been some changes along the way – mainly to the character of Elijah Price.
“I had to amend it to make Elijah a villain in Unbreakable,” he notes.
“You know, to have a first movie which had a whole different scent to it. The One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest framing of the piece in Glass came to me a little bit later.
“There’s been some changes to it but the general feeling of it – you know, the trains being so important – has been the same. That was always there.”
After taking a critical hammering with the likes of After Earth, The Happening and The Last Airbender, it’s clear that Shyamalan has rediscovered his filmmaking mojo with The Visit and Split both receiving critical and commercial success.
In many ways, Glass is as close to a surefire hit as it comes in Hollywood.
The massive success of Split showed that there’s a demand for the character of Kevin and since being released, Unbreakable has been hailed as a film that was very much before its time.
In fact, Shyamalan’s story about why the studio wanted to market the film as a dark thriller is indicative of just how much the market has changed.
This being said, Glass is very much its own film and unlike a feature like Avengers: Endgame, audiences can walk into the cinema and enjoy the action without needing too much prior information.
“It’s absolutely a standalone film,” said Shyamalan.
“From the audience that I’ve shown it to, I’ve found that those people who have just seen Unbreakable enjoyed it at the same level as the people that just saw Split.
“People that saw neither have enjoyed it also…but just a hair below those that are familiar with the other films, mainly for nostalgia. It’s a movie about three people who believe that they are comic book characters, they end up in an asylum that specialises in a disorder that threats people that think they’re comic-book heroes – which is a growing disorder in the world.”
All will be revealed when Glass is released on 18 January.
Clip via Universal Pictures
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