‘Glass’: M. Night Shyamalan Shares Samuel L. Jackson’s Request for an ‘Unbreakable’ Sequel

Unbreakable planted the seeds of a grounded approach to superheroes, yet it took nearly two decades for the adventures of the characters to finally continue with Glass. In that time, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan confirmed he had multiple run-ins with star Samuel L. Jackson who would ask for updates on a sequel exactly how you think the actor would pose such a question.

“I would just see [Samuel L. Jackson] randomly if I was in Los Angeles — and I don’t go to Los Angeles hardly at all. So one time I was driving on the studio lot and his car came, and he rolled down the window and he’s like, ‘When are we making that sequel motherf-cker?’” Shyamalan revealed to CinemaBlend. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m working on it. I’m working on it, man. I’m working on it, I got to drive, bye.’”

This wasn’t the only time Jackson seemingly embraced some of his more intimidating on-screen personas, with the director noting that a similar encounter happened not long after.

“And then literally, I think another year later I was at a red light in Los Angeles, and his car pulled up again next to me and he goes, ‘When we making that sequel motherf-cker?’” Shyamalan confirmed. “And I’m like, ‘I’m working on it, I’m almost there!’ And really I hadn’t worked on it at all. I was just trying to drive away. So when I finally did call them, they were super, super supportive.”

Shyamalan’s breakout success was The Sixth Sense in 1999, which earned an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and audiences alike, even scoring itself Academy Awards nominations. Expectations were high for Unbreakable, yet with its inflated production cost, the film wasn’t considered nearly as successful as its predecessor. Over the decades, the filmmaker earned varied responses from his films, though no audience was anticipating the twist at the end of the straightforward thriller Split.

The film focused on a man with a fractured psyche who kidnapped young girls to sacrifice to a personality he determined was supernaturally powerful, The Beast. In the film’s final moments, audiences were shown a scene featuring Unbreakable‘s David Dunn, confirming that the two films existed in the same universe. Thanks to Split being such an effective standalone movie, its successes allowed for Glass to move forward, bringing together characters from both films, including Unbreakable‘s Elijah Price (Jackson).

Glass lands in theaters this Friday.

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