M. Night Shyamalan

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer original cut their teeth with FOX’s M. Night Shyamalan-produced Wayward Pines, and now the Sixth Sense and Split director may be looking for them to return the favor. By his own admission, Shyamalan is game to direct an episode of Stranger Things, but is it already too late?

We haven’t heard much about M. Night Shyamalan’s proposed TNT reinvention of Tales From the Crypt in some time, and there might be good reason. According to reports, budget and rights complications have thrown a wrench into production, which could affect a 2017 premiere date, if not cancel the series outright.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Split came as a welcome surprise when it debuted unannounced as the secret screening at last month’s Fantastic Fest, delighting audiences with a daring turn from James McAvoy (and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy) as a mental patient harboring 23 distinct personalities in his head. Our own Britt Hayes was on the scene and reported back with a resoundingly positive review naming the new film as Shyamalan’s best in years. (Not an especially high bar, admittedly, but praise is praise.)

Between The Visit and the first season of Wayward Pines, 2015 restored our faith in M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker capable of delivering clever, surprising thrillers, which makes us all the more optimistic for Split. The director’s latest project stars James McAvoy as a man with many personalities (one of which is quite deadly), and although the first trailer suggests that Split borrows familiar elements from other notable films, we have to believe that Shyamalan still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

It’s oft been said of erstwhile breakout director M. Night Shyamalan that the filmmaker had run out of ideas, but his new TNT Tales From the Crypt may never have that problem. The new series has partnered with Wattpad to crowdsource stories and horror trends, even recruiting writers directly to work on the series.

If ever you thought that TNT’s redux of Tales From the Crypt under one-time suspense master M. Night Shyamalan was only a nightmare, have we got a twist for you. Not only has TNT greenlit the new Tales From the Crypt to series, well also have a “newly reinvented” Crypt Keeper to tell them.

We first learned back in January that TNT had in mind to resurrect the classic Tales From the Crypt with M. Night Shyamalan curating new horror stories, though details were few and far between. Now, the Sixth Sense director at least confirms that the classic “Crypt Keeper” character will return, though perhaps not as we remember.

As if the renewal of FOX’s Wayward Pines weren’t enough of an anchor keeping M. Night Shyamalan on TV, The Sixth Sense director now has his own crypt. Tales From the Crypt, that is, a reboot of the classic anthology series landing on TNT.

Despite an overall mediocre reception, and a full five months since its first season finale, FOX’s M. Night Shyamalan-fronted Wayward Pines will live on after all. FOX has officially ordered a second season for 2016, but should we expect an all-new cast, as predicted?

In what proved to be one of the neatest twists of 2015, M. Night Shyamalan restored our faith by returning with the pretty solid horror flick The Visit. And the master of twists is already heading into production on his next thriller, re-teaming with Blumhouse Productions for the newly-titled Split, starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, the breakout star of The Witch.