M Night Shyamalan has what could charitably be described as a “difficult” last few years when it comes to the critics. The Happening was (rightfully) mocked and The Last Airbender suffered from both scorn and complaints about its 3D. But he’s still able to draw in the box office dollars, so studios are going to keep working with him. And now he’s set up an intriguing sci-fi project with Will Smith’s Overbrook production company: **One Thousand A.E.
Unusually for the writing/directing/producing/ acting auteur, he’s actually leaving script duties to someone else this time, working with Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta to develop the concept.
What is that concept? Oh, come on… This is Shyamalan we’re talking about, one of the dues-paying members of the Keep It Quiet Society, Hollywood branch (Treasurer: JJ Abrams). But while the plot details are locked down, word has leaked to the Heat Vision blog that the project is being considered as a vehicle for breakout star (and son of Will) Jaden Smith, last seen kicking his way to the top of the charts earlier this year with** The Karate Kid**. Yes, his dad's putting him back to work.
Given that title, we can of course turn the speculat-o-meter to full power, wondering if A.E. might stand for After Earth, and feature something set in the future when mankind has moved on – or been forced to by some big event.
Oh, and if you’re sitting there thinking, ‘But didn’t Shyamalan already have a film bubbling away, with Bruce Willis, Bradley Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow all attached?’ then you’d be correct. But it would seem that M Night’s power might still work in certain circles, it doesn't always result in a warm studio welcome, since that untitled idea didn’t actually attract financing and appears to have been quietly taken behind the wood shed and introduced to Mr Shotgun and his bullet-bodied daughters.