M. Night Shyamalan has been talking about continuing the story he began with Unbreakable pretty much ever since Unbreakable came out. I imagine as superhero movies become more and more profitable, it’s even harder for him to resist, particularly when his films haven’t been doing as well lately.
So it should come as no surprise that he’s still at it. While being interviewed by IGN about his show, Wayward Pines, Shyamalan mused on an ambitious and somewhat half-baked plan to get back onto the Unbreakable gravy train:
Could you do a six-episode Unbreakable series on Netflix or HBO? Yeah! That’s cool. I even had an idea of doing a story that goes in one form, and a second part that’s in another form, and a third one’s in a different form. You never do the same form. It would be like, movie, then, let’s say, cable, to TV, whatever, and then a play; it goes straight online, and it finishes like that. It’s in four different forms, and it never goes back to the old one. It could be kind of cool.
Sign me up for one ticket to the Unbreakable stage play, please. I can give or take that other stuff, but I am not kicking an Unbreakable play out of bed.
This is obviously just wishful thinking on Shyamalan’s part. Not that an Unbreakable sequel (in whatever form) has no chance of happening, but the dreamy tone of this quote indicates a real brainstorming phase for Shyamalan’s plans.
Which is probably just as well. Unbreakable is a film that walks a nearly impossible tonal line (or doesn't, for those who dislike it), the recreation of which seems a dubious prospect at best, especially now that Shyamalan's in a situation where instead of leading up to a reveal, he has to actually deliver on the premise that reveal promised. Maybe he could pull it off (I kind of root for Shyamalan), but I’m not hopeful, even in stage play form.