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M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan

Highest Rated: 100% The Shark Is Still Working (2006)

Lowest Rated: 5% The Last Airbender (2010)

Birthday: Aug 6, 1970

Birthplace: Pondicherry, India

Director M. Night Shymalan is best known for directing several crowd-pleasing films that are known for their supernatural plots and unforeseen twist-endings. Shymalan, whose birth name was Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan, was born in the Indian town of Mahe. He moved to the United States with his parents when he was six years old, and settled in the well-to-do suburb of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. Both of Shymalan's parents were doctors, and when he was a young boy, Shymalan's father just assumed that one day his son would follow in his footsteps by pursuing a degree in medicine. The young M. Night Shymalan, however, had different plans. At 8 years old he was given a Super 8 camera and almost immediately began making his own movies. Inspired by his childhood hero Steven Spielberg, Shymalan made dozens of films in his teens (by his count, 45 by the time he was 17), and quickly became determined to make moviemaking his career. Although Shymalan's father wanted him to become a doctor, it was his mother who encouraged him to pursue his passion. Thus, when it came time to attend college, Shymalan enrolled in film school at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He made his first feature, the drama "Praying with Anger" (1992), while attending NYU. In order to fund the film, Shymalan borrowed money from his family and close friends. "Praying with Anger" was screened at various film festivals, but never received a distribution deal, so it was never widely seen. After graduating from NYU in 1992, Shymalan spent the next few years writing the script for his follow-up feature, a comedy called "Wide Awake" (1998). For the cast, Shymalan got relatively big names to appear in his film, including Rosie O'Donnell, Camryn Manheim and Julia Stiles. "Wide Awake" was shot in 1995 but was not released until 1998. The film received lightly positive reviews, but failed to make any kind of significant dent at the box office. It was Shymalan's third film, however, released the following year, that would truly make him a household name. That film, 1999's "The Sixth Sense" starred Bruce Willis and newcomer Haley Joel Osment, and was the first of Shymalan's films to include the twist ending technique he would later become famous for. In addition to being a massive hit at the box office, "The Sixth Sense" would go on to be nominated for 6 Academy Awards, earning Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nods for Shymalan. After the huge success of "The Sixth Sense," Shymalan's career really took off. In the 2000s he made one crowd-pleasing hit movie after another, including "Unbreakable" (2000), "Signs" (2002), "The Village" (2004), and "The Happening" (2008), thus establishing M. Night Shymalan as one of the most commercially successful and widely popular directors of his generation. The early part of the 2010s, however, were not as kind to Shymalan. In 2010 he directed "The Last Airbender," which was panned by critics. But it was his next film, 2013's "After Earth," that would truly prove to be the low point in Shymalan's career. The film, which starred Will Smith and his son Jaden, was universally derided by critics, leaving Shymalan in something of a career funk. Determined not to allow let the critical backlash of his last two films to get to him, Shymalan put his head down and got back to doing what he loved: making movies. Two years later, in 2015, he directed the found footage horror film "The Visit" (2015). The low budget film, which was made for $5 million, took in nearly $100 million at the box office, thus signaling M. Night Shymalan was back! His next two films, "Split" (2016) and "Glass" (2019), were also huge financial successes, proving once and for all that whatever career funk M. Night Shymalan found himself in in the early part of the decade, it was only short-lived. "Glass" was the third and final film in Shymalan's "Unbreakable" trilogy (the first two being "Unbreakable" and "Split"), and would go on to make over $240 million at the box office. The film also receive mostly favorable reviews from critics. 2019 was also the year that Shymalan debuted his psychological horror TV series "Servant" (Apple +, 2019- ). The series, which Shymalan executive produced, premiered on Apple's brand new streaming service Apple + in November of 2019.

Highest rated movies

100% 90% The Shark Is Still Working
86% 90% The Sixth Sense 75% 67% Signs
25% 49% Lady in the Water
18% 24% The Happening

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Caddo Lake Producer - 2024
57% 65% Trap Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$42.7M 2024
31% 52% The Watchers Producer $19.1M 2024
67% 63% Knock at the Cabin Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$35.4M 2023
50% 53% Old Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$48.2M 2021
37% 66% Glass Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$111.0M 2019
78% 79% Split Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$138.1M 2016
68% 52% The Visit Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$65.1M 2015
12% 36% After Earth Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$60.5M 2013
50% 43% Devil Writer,
Producer
$33.6M 2010
5% 30% The Last Airbender Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$131.6M 2010
18% 24% The Happening Joey (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$64.5M 2008
25% 49% Lady in the Water Vick Ran (Character),
Director,
Writer,
Producer
$42.3M 2006
100% 90% The Shark Is Still Working Unknown (Character) - 2006
44% 57% The Village Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$114.2M 2004
75% 67% Signs Ray Reddy (Character),
Director,
Writer,
Producer
$228.0M 2002
70% 77% Unbreakable Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$95.0M 2000
67% 41% Stuart Little Screenwriter $140.0M 1999
86% 90% The Sixth Sense Dr. Hill (Character),
Director,
Writer
$293.5M 1999
No Score Yet No Score Yet Stuart Little Screenwriter - 1999
45% 66% Wide Awake Director,
Writer
$258.2K 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Praying With Anger Dev Raman (Character),
Director,
Producer
- 1992

TV

Credit
90% 78% Servant Executive Producer,
Director
2019-2023
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2019 2021 2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Graham Norton Show Guest 2021 2023
No Score Yet 49% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2019 2023
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2015 2020-2021
82% 16% A Little Late With Lilly Singh Guest 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet To Dine For With Kate Sullivan Guest 2020
94% 81% This Is Us M. Night Shyamalan (Guest Star) 2020
40% 98% Norm Macdonald Has a Show Guest 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conan Guest 2018
60% 67% Wayward Pines Executive Producer,
Director
2015-2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tavis Smiley Guest 2014
65% 82% Entourage M. Night Shyamalan (Guest Star) 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Daily Show Guest 2006