Summary
M. Night Shyamalan discusses his frustrations with poor marketing and initial audience reception toUnbreakable. Before superhero movies dominated Hollywood, Shyamalan’s 2000 film told its own grounded superhero origin story with David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Elijah Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), which went on to become a cult classic. The story later expanded in 2016 with the stealth sequelSplit, starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, and in 2019 withGlass, which completed theUnbreakabletrilogyby fully tying together the stories ofUnbreakableandSplit.
While looking back at his filmography withGQ,Shyamalan recalled his frustrations with howUnbreakablewas marketed and initially received. Check out the video and Shyamalan’s comments below:
They were too scared to say the words “comic book.” That was literally the thing that was like, no one will go see a movie about a comic book. That was literally like, you can’t do it. And I’m like, I love it! Maybe there’s other people that would think of this as myth as well and enjoy it. In my mind, it was a movie that was, “Hey the guy is in a crash, an accident where everyone dies except him, and he doesn’t have a scratch on him, and someone says, ‘I know why that happened. You’re a real-life superhero.'” That’s the movie, but that was never said or sold.
Then other people were coming and going, “That wasn’t scary.” And I was like, “Who said it was going to be that? Who said it was going to be scary?” And so, [I learned] a really interesting lesson about, if I am going to be the purveyor of original stories for my life, I have to get partners that understand that we’re going to reinvent every single time, and we should celebrate that.
Despite the frustrations Shyamalan experienced withUnbreakable, these challenges helped him better understand the kinds of creative partners he needed for his films. This ultimately led to the creation ofSplit, one of Shyamalan’s best-received films sinceThe Sixth Sense, which enabled him to expandUnbreakable’s story 16 years later.
It Was Released Before Superheroes Took Over Hollywood
Shyamalan recognized the power and widespread appeal of superhero storiesbefore Sam Raimi’sSpider-Mantrilogy,Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He saw how a clash between superheroes and supervillains could serve as modern myths about good versus evil. WhileUnbreakablewas an original story that he wrote and directed, it was inspired by comic books, with Shyamalan seeing how effective a film following a comic book structure could be.
Unbreakableis still ahead of the superhero stories that have come out since through its ability to prioritize a character-driven story over spectacle, even in the third act.
Unbreakablewas alsoahead of its time for the tone and realism of its superhero story. Even after David learned of his superhuman strength, invulnerability, and ability to see crimes that others commit by touching them, he did not start wearing a superhero costume, develop an alter ego, or engage in the other trappings of most superheroes. He continued to be a relatively normal person who wore normal clothes and did not change his personality, but instead just tried to help others as best as he could with his newly discovered abilities.
10 Ways Glass Connects Unbreakable & Split
M. Night Shyamalan completed the Unbreakable trilogy with his crossover thriller Glass, connecting Unbreakable and Split in unexpected ways.
There was a serious andgrim tone toUnbreakable’s eventsthat was not associated with superhero stories at the time, but that was praised in future superhero projects, including Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy and Matt Reeves’The Batman. In many ways,Unbreakableis still ahead of the superhero stories that have come out since through its ability to prioritize a character-driven story over spectacle, even in the third act. As frustrated as Shyamalan was during the lead-up and release ofUnbreakable, he created a stellar film that has stood the test of time.
Unbreakable
Cast
M. Night Shyamalan presents Unbreakable, a superhero thriller that sees Bruce Willis star as David Dunn, a man who survives a train derailment completely unscathed. Now discovering that he has superpowers, he is invited to meet a man who may know more about his unique condition working at a comic book shop. What begins as a discovery of who he is and why he has these powers turns into David assuming the role of a reluctant hero in an ordinary world.
