Personally I think M. Night Shyamalan jumped the shark as a director so long ago that Robert Shaw's character Quint from Jaws saw him fly over Amity Island. His most recent film The Last Airbender was a box office failure and one of the worst reviewed films of 2010, and The Happening rates as one of the top ten worst films I've ever seen. (I did like Lady in the Water though, even almost everyone else I know didn't.)
That being said Shyamalan is gearing up for a new science fiction film called After Earth, which starts shooting later this year. The premise centers around an Earth that is uninhabitable. When Wil Smith (the lead character) crash lands on the planet his failed warrior son, (?) who will be played by real life son Jaden Smith*, has to save him. (A 13 year old "failed warrior" on a rescue mission. Yeah that makes sense.) Joining him will be Isabelle Fuhrman, who moviegoers may remember as the creepy girl from The Orphan, as Jaden Smith's sidekick Rayna. Incidentally Fuhrman can next me seen in The Hunger Games as Clove.
The fact that Wil Smith attached himself to the project shows me that the studio hopes his star power will lift After Earth into blockbuster status. I'm about as confident in the success of this film as I am Taylor Lautner winning the Academy Award for Abduction. Even if the movie is a box-office success, will it be a good film? Based on Shyamalan's recent track record I'd say no. Shyamalan needs a comeback in a huge way and if this film fails I think he may be done in Hollywood. (Then again that hack Nicholas Cage keeps getting roles so what the hell do I know?)
After Earth is slated to release June of next year.
*I loathe Jaden Smith with a passion. It's rare that I boycott films but you will never, never, never get me to watch the remake of the 80s classic The Karate Kid. Ever.
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