'Split' Star Didn't Know It Was a Sequel to 'Unbreakable' While Filming

As movie franchises lean more heavily into the concept of shared universes, audiences typically know before seeing a movie how it will connect to other movies. Split, on the other hand, only revealed itself to be connected to the writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's 2000 film Unbreakable in its final moments, giving audiences an exciting surprise. The twist was so effective that even the film's star, Anya Taylor-Joy, didn't realize her movie connected to Unbreakable.

"Night asked me to go to one of those tester screenings in Arizona," Taylor-Joy shared with Entertainment Weekly. "I went with him, and the ending wasn't part of that, but, as we were outside ready to go into the screening, [he] told me about it [and Glass]. I completely lost it."

Split became a financial and critical success, which helped ensure Shyamalan could film Glass, a film which serves as a sequel to both films. Not only was the actress oblivious to the connections between the films, she also didn't anticipate being involved in Glass.

"I thought, man, that's so cool, like, 'You have to let me know how shooting goes!'" the actress continued. "He just looked at me and said, 'What makes you think you're not coming along for the ride?' I completely died. I was like, 'Wait, really? You want me to come and do this with you?' I was so excited to reprise my character, because I love Casey so much, and to be able to do it with all these unbelievable actors. I was at a table with all of these incredible people. I just thought, what the hell am I doing here?"

In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) survived a terrible train accident in which he emerged without a scratch. Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) befriended Dunn, hoping to help him discover how he was able to survive the incident. Audiences eventually learned that, while Dunn couldn't be hurt, Price had incredibly fragile bones and had orchestrated the accident. Price's nickname in the film is "Mr. Glass."

Split, which also stars James McAvoy, told the tale of a man whose fractured psyche caused him to kidnap young girls, with each different personality having different motivations and mindsets, as the most powerful of those personalities being in service of "The Beast."

The final moments of the film featured a shot of Dunn witnessing the news about The Beast, revealing its connection to Unbreakable.

The upcoming Glass will see all of these actors reunite, yet details about the project are currently unknown.

Glass will land in theaters on January 18, 2019.

Were you excited by Split's connection to Unbreakable or do you wish it was its own film? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]

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