If there is one director desperate for a hit, then it’s M. Night Shyamalan. After impressing and dropping jaws with the mini-masterpieces, THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE and SIGNS, the writer and director was on a fast track to Spielberg-like proportions.
Critics say the cracks began to appear in THE VILLAGE, a film I thought was pretty darn great but what do I know?! Following that, THE LADY IN THE WATER sunk at the box-office and showed that both cinemagoers and studios weren’t prepared to stand for any old mishmash Shyamalan dreamt up. THE HAPPENING’s laughable plot, followed up with the abysmal THE LAST AIRBENDER, suggested it was ‘good night‘ on his career.
However, AFTER EARTH is the new action sci-fi in which he collaborates with Will Smith to attempt to make son Jaden, a mega-star. The MEN IN BLACK actor and pop-star apparently appears briefly (obviously to get bums on seats) but it will be Jaden who leads the film when their spacecraft crash lands on a future Earth, which has long been destroyed.
Today, we have a rather lazy viral teaser clip that appears to be just setting-up the scenario of how Earth becomes inhabitable, leading to the events we will see in the forthcoming film. It’s not on the scale of any great viral campaign but first and foremost, we’re just hoping for anything other than Mark Wahlberg taking to a shrubbery.
AFTER EARTH hits cinemas 17th June 2013 and co-stars Sophie Okonedo, Isabelle Fuhrman, Zoe Kravitz and David Denman.
Craig was our great north east correspondent, proving that it’s so ‘grim up north’ that losing yourself in a world of film is a foregone prerequisite. He has been studying the best (and often worst) of both classic and modern cinema at the University of Life for as long as he can remember. Craig’s favorite films include THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, JFK, GOODFELLAS, SCARFACE, and most of John Carpenter’s early work, particularly THE THING and HALLOWEEN.
2 Comments
2 Comments
Luke Ryan Baldock
Jul 16, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Isn’t it depressing when you have to state “From the Director of…” using a film from 12 years ago, even though you’ve made 5 films since then. In case you were wondering Shyamalan, that means you’re doing a bad job.(Although I love Signs)
Luke Ryan Baldock
Jul 16, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Isn’t it depressing when you have to state “From the Director of…” using a film from 12 years ago, even though you’ve made 5 films since then. In case you were wondering Shyamalan, that means you’re doing a bad job.(Although I love Signs)
Dan Bullock
Jul 16, 2012 at 5:28 pm
First three, especially Unbreakable, really enjoyed.
The Village? That’s where it ended for me. They showed the monster too quickly and from then, it’s horribly predictable.