Apparently he's on something of an upswing in his career again, now that he's backed off of doing such "big" films and is making smaller stuff. His latest is a thriller about some teenagers kidnapped by a guy with multiple personality disorder played by James McAvoy. It's gotten good reviews, as the writer/director has always been good with tension and dread.

It's going to win the weekend box office here in the states, and probably keep growing as word of it gets out there... which I'll discuss separately.

From Entertainment Weekly:

---------

The movie concludes with McAvoy’s character, who has gained the ability to transform into a 24th personality with supernatural strength called the Beast, on the loose, having escaped capture by the authorities. We then join the action in a busy diner as patrons are watching a TV news report about this man, who the media has dubbed “The Horde” because of his multiple personalities. One woman says that the story reminds her of another case, from years ago, involving “a funny guy in a wheelchair, what was his name?”

The camera turns and we see Bruce Willis, wearing a security guard work shirt that says “Dunn,” as he utters while looking up at the TV screen, “Mr. Glass.” That’s the nickname, of course, of Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Unbreakable, who in that movie’s surprise finale revealed himself to be a supervillain — in contrast with Willis’ David Dunn, a superhero.

And before this final “tag” scene even beings, those with good memories and good ears will recognize composer James Newton Howard’s dark, lush score to Unbreakable playing in the last scene involving McAvoy, before we even get to the Philly diner.

---------

So it seems like Shyamalan has successfully managed to emulate the Marvel Cinematic trick with his own Superhero property. That's kind of genius. Apparently, the McAvoy character was originally a part of the Unbreakable script as the serial killer that Dunn finds and fights, but was cut out for something less complex. From the EW article, it sounds like everyone involved would be thrilled to do the follow-up that this seems to promise too.

I've not seen either movie, but this sounds like a neat trick. It's certainly going to generate some buzz for the movie. And it will probably delight the M. Night faithful.

And now movie studios everywhere are scrabbling through their back catalogue to work out which of their products they can reveal were actually in the same universe all along! TM.