M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin First Trailer Revealed

There's a Knock at the Cabin in the first trailer for filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to Old. A secretive adaptation of author Paul Tremblay's novel, "The Cabin at the End of the World," Knock at the Cabin stars Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Rupert Grint (Servant), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Old), Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter). Directed, written, and produced by Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs), Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for the thriller set to open in theaters on February 3, 2023. Watch it below. 

"I will tell you this: strangely, it was the fastest script I've ever written. Signs would have had that title prior to Knock at the Cabin," Shyamalan previously told ComicBook. "I probably think, in terms of both of them, that they have this movement, this event, that causes me to write it really fast. Hopefully, audiences will feel that when they come to see it."

The Split and Glass filmmaker added of Cabin: "It is definitely in the wheelhouse of the things you're seeing from me now, especially with [Apple TV+ series] Servant, this contained and gigantic event that's occurring."

Praised by horror master Stephen King as "thought-provoking and terrifying, with tension that winds up like a chain" and "gripping, horrifying, and mesmerizing" by GQ, Tremblay's novel is described as a "propulsive, heart-palpitating novel of psychological suspense from the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts." 

Reads the book's official synopsis: "Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet lake in northern New Hampshire. A handful of miles from the Canadian border, far removed from the bustle of city life, cut off from the urgent hum of cell phones and from the internet, they are more than two miles away from their closest neighbors in either direction along an old dirt logging road.

"On a cloudless summer day, as Wen catches grass-hoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he is young—twenty-four and a half years old, he tells her—and friendly, with a warm and wide smile that wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen continue to talk and play, until three more strangers, two women and a man, all dressed like Leonard in jeans and button-down shirts, come down the road carrying strange, menacing objects.

"In a panic, Wen tells Leonard that she must go back inside the cabin. But before she goes, her new friend tells her, 'None of what's going to happen is your fault. You haven't done anything wrong, but the three of you will have to make some tough decisions. I wish with all my broken heart you didn't have to.' As Wen sprints away to warn her parents, Leonard calls out, 'Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world. Please.'"

Publisher William Morrow promises The Cabin at the End of the World is "an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined." 

"I honestly spent a chunk of my 2022 spring quelling internet rumors and putting out Twitter fires connecting the book and movie. It reached a point in early June where that became impossible, however, with all the information out there, including the IMDb page," the author told CNBC of online rumors Shyamalan's next movie was an adaptation of Tremblay's novel. "I have been doing my part to be respectful of movie marketing desires and certainly wouldn't dream of spoiling anything. Like the majority of adaptations, there will be story changes and differences compared to the book so my readers will still be surprised by the film." 

For Tremblay, "Most of my novels, including 'A Head Full of Ghosts,' riff on other films and novels. 'The Cabin at the End of the World' is itself a reaction to the home invasion film subgenre. Most of me is excited and intrigued at the prospect of seeing my story reimagined or refracted on screen."

Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin opens in theaters on February 3, 2023.