Possible Story Ideas for UNBREAKABLE 2 Revealed by M. Night Shyamalan
We know that M. Night Shyamalan has been developing a sequel for Unbreakable 2 for years, and it looks like it's finally going to happen! During a recent interview on the HappySadConfused podcast, the director talks about the possible direction he could take the story.
While talking about it, he also reveals spoiler aspects of his new film Split, so there are some spoilers.
If you've seen Split, then you know the film connects to Unbreakable and that it awesomely sets up a direct sequel to that film. Shyamalan tweeted a recent update saying he's got an 11 page outline for the film so far. Then in an interview, he goes into a little more detail about what he's thinking in regards of the story.
I have an 11 page outline for my next film in my bag. I can't tell you what it is, but If you've seen #Split...
— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) February 4, 2017
Here's a possible idea that he could use for the film:
"My thought bubble would be—again don’t hold me to this—but Elijah never got out of the institution. He was just a guy who believed this, but David doesn’t quite 100% believe it that way, he just thinks that he is particularly meant to do this and is kind of faded a little bit. Like this idea of comic books that Elijah was saying the comic book world is based on reality, that it’s real—there’s no other evidence for this. It’s this crazy guy who has this bone disorder who’s in an insane asylum. But then [the news story at the end of Split] comes up and he’s like, ‘Oh my God, he’s right.’"
That's definitely an interesting direction to take it. After 16 years, Bruce Willis' David Dunn still hasn't fully embraced his powers and his destiny? That would definitely be the unique and unexpected direction, which is what Shyamalan likes to do with his stories. He goes on to talk about how he wants his next sequel to be like a standalone film. He explains:
"All I can say is this: If Unbreakable was about a guy who is the only person who survives a train wreck, everyone dies and he doesn’t have a scratch on him. How is that possible? That’s a high concept, really cool story. And then this one is three girls get abducted by a person that has this disorder that he believes he’s many people, and all of the different personalities are saying there’s another personality coming to get them, it’s called The Beast. That in and of itself is a really cool thing. This third movie needs to have its own idea. The high concept of that final movie can’t be, ‘It’s the final Unbreakable.’ There has to be something about that that makes it its own movie… That’s when I’ll be happiest, is when it’s its own movie. In a way it could be watched by itself."
That sounds like it would be hard to pull off given the fact that there are two previous films with characters that will all appear in the film, and they all have important backstories. It would be really interesting to see how he will make this next sequel a standalone movie.
The filmmaker then goes on to reveal that he had a completely different ending planned for Split that was fully animated but it was eventually cut:
"There was another version of the credit sequence which was comic book, which was graphic images of The Beast and then David Dunn and then Elijah and then them all mixing together. When I saw it done I was like, ‘This is a fucking home run,’ and then when I put it on the movie it didn’t work… It’s one thing to say, ‘You saw an origin story,’ but to go into other characters…David Dunn is reacting to the news of The Horde. End of story. If you keep going it starts to undermine the movie you just saw."
I'd like to see that! Hopefully, they include it on the special features of the Blu-ray/DVD. Split is my favorite M. Night film since Unbreakable, and I'm so happy and excited that we are going to see these stories continue in at least one more film!
Via: Collider