Online movement wants to send M. Night Shyamalan back to film school

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Is M. Night Shyamalan the new Uwe Boll? A contingent of the internet seems to think so.

I remember reporting awhile back about a petition with hundreds of thousands of signatures meant to persuade Uwe Boll from continuing to direct films, and now there’s a similar push to send a message to M. Night Shyamalan.

The man has had an inarguable decline in the quality of his films in the years since The SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE. The exact ranking order of how terrible the films are is up for debate, but it’s pretty clear the man hasn’t become the auteur he was prophesied to be.

The website that has been set up is taking pledges for the charity of sending M. Night back to NYU film school to relearn his craft. The idea is that if he gets some basic instruction on how to make films, we might see a few more classics from him yet.

Personally, I find this all rather stupid, but I do understand the frustration. I still do think Shyamalan is a good director, with the HUGE caveat that he is a TERRIBLE writer, and his ability to cast could use some work as well (see the entire ensemble of THE LAST AIRBENDER).

I doubt this will raise too many funds, but if it does, and M. Night refuses to go back to school (duh), they’ll turn the cash into a scholarship for aspiring filmmakers.