M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass Nearly Featured Connections to Another Film

One of the most exciting and surprising elements of 2017’s Split was a post-credit tease that featured Bruce Willis reprising his role from Unbreakable, revealing that the two films were connected to one another, with Glass then going on to serve as the conclusion to the trilogy. Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan recently confirmed that he nearly found a way to bring in another reference to his cinematic legacy, as he considered featuring a reference to his 2015 film The Visit in Glass, as they both feature mental institutions, though he ultimately opted not to feature that cinematic connection.

When speaking with The Hollywood Reporter and whether all of his films take place in the same Philadelphia, Shyamalan shared, “If I was smart enough to have thought about it 20-some years ago, I would’ve done it, but I wasn’t smart enough to think about it. There was one tie-in that I almost did. It was in Glass when they all got to the mental institution. I was going to tell a story about The Visit and how two people escaped from that same hospital … I was going to do it, but I chickened out. So I didn’t do it.”

In Glass, individuals who believe to be superpowered are all brought to the same mental institution, only for them to unveil that they really do have these abilities and ultimately escape. In The Visit, two siblings go to spend time with grandparents they’ve never met, only for the film to reveal that the people they are spending time with aren’t their grandparents at all, but actually have recently escaped from a mental institution.

Shyamalan previously addressed the idea of many of his films taking place in the same universe, noting that previous connections were more exceptions to the rule.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Shyamalan confirmed to ComicBook.com in 2021 when asked about his films’ interconnected nature. “Although, sometimes I get a kick out of trying to think of referencing something else that happened from another movie, but that would be disingenuous because, honestly, I think of them more in that Twilight Zone thought process of each one is its own discernible thing. They’re not related. In this world, this is what happens, and in this world, people realize they’re comic book characters, and we just move on to the next one.”  

Shyamalan’s next film, Knock at the Cabin, lands in theaters on February 2nd.

Would you like to see more connections in Shyamalan films? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!