M. Night Shyamalan is known for being a genius with a camera. His storytelling is famously thorough and immersive, gripping the attention of his audience and making the world around him disappear. Nothing showcases this better than the Unbreakable series. Starting in 2000 with Unbreakable, he created an immersive world that had a rocky start.
What many might not know, however, is that when the second film in the series, Split, was being made, Shyamalan did not tell anyone that it was going to be a sequel. The way that he managed to get the rights for his character and reveal the information to the studio was quite interesting, to say the least.
M. Night Shyamalan Wanted To Create A Connected Story
Towards the end of 2016’s Split, Bruce Willi’s David Dunn famously makes a cameo, establishing that the film takes place in the same universe as 2000’s Unbreakable. This was not mentioned anywhere during the marketing stages of the movie, and fans who had seen the first film were forced to put the pieces together for the world.
During an interview with GQ, M. Night Shyamalan revealed exactly how this came to be. It would seem that originally, James McAvoy’s character was supposed to be a part of Willis’ film. Being two characters that met and interacted with each other, their stories were supposed to be intertwined, and they were supposed to be in one cohesive movie.
The original outline from Unbreakable had Split in it so it was a very long movie.
It was way too big and sprawling so I decided to pull that character out and did the first act as Unbreakable.
However, the director realized that the story was becoming far too long and he needed to shorten it to only Dunn’s story. When it came time for him to make the second film, he decided to rid himself of all the safety that could come with making a sequel.
What if I make a sequel, but I don’t tell anyone that it’s a sequel?
I secretly went to Disney and said, ‘Could I have the rights to the David Dunn character just for a little cameo, a little easter egg thing.’ They said yes and I didn’t even tell Universal.
He did not tell the studio, Universal Pictures, of what he was doing and decided to quietly get the rights to Dunn’s character from Disney. Interestingly enough, they were on board and gave him what he needed to make the movie.
M. Night Shyamalan’s Deception
Even though M. Night Shyamalan’s plan for Spilt could have gotten him quite a lot of praise from the studio, he decided to stay secretive about it. He did not show the studio the very end of the script and kept his plans hidden until the screening of the movie. When the executives were watching the film, they saw the scene of Bruce Willis in the movie and were quite surprised with what they saw.
So in the script that I showed them and sold them, I didn’t have the ending on it.
While the idea was excellent in every way, the executives were more concerned about whether Shyamalan had the right to add a character that was owned by a different studio. Since he had gotten permission from Disney, everything was fine, and he could do what he wanted with David Dunn’s character.
What makes the entire situation all the more interesting is the fact that Shyamalan was hesitant to direct something in the same universe after Unbreakable’s poor audience response. Thankfully, he pushed through, and the audience got a film series from a director who dislikes sequels.
All films from the Unbreakable series are available for streaming on Prime Video.
