The M. Night Shyamalan-produced demon-in-a-lift flick Devil (the first of the "M. Night Chronicles") reaches screens on Sept. 17, but the obvious spoof has already hit and it's masterminded by Shyamalan himself.
Showing now over on MTV, Escalation shows us "what happens when the stairs stop moving … and evil comes alive." The faux-escalator thriller stars M. Night, MTV's Josh Horowitz and my personal favorite performer, Penthouse Pet Ryan Keely.
"I was humbled, honored and excited to work with Josh Horowitz and M. Night Shyamalan," says Keely. "I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in one afternoon. Making the spoof was an unforgettable experience."
M. Night Shyamalan is a friend to paranormal pop culture after The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs - all spooky, solid outings. Then he seriously tested my patience as an audience member when he delivered the incrementally disappointing films The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening.
And then The Last Airbender was released, based on a popular animated series, which received only an eight percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie has a lot of vision executed incredibly poorly. In the scheme of things, it probably isn't as odious as some suggest, but it is a failure for the director.
Yet I still want to give this guy another chance to make a good movie.
Maybe the best hope for him is Devil, a film produced by M. Night based on his idea, but not directed by him. Say what you will about his direction, but Shyamalan has cool ideas so I'm willing to play, ahem, Devil's advocate (and yes, I was itching for that particular bit of cheap wordplay).
Not much is known about the film aside from its supernatural themes, but the new trailer (embedded below) suggests it involves strangers tormented by an entity while stuck on an elevator betwixt floors - and worlds?
I'm not quite excited for this film yet, but I'm paying attention.
Variety is reporting that Noah Ringer (right), "Aang" in M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, will be joining Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in Cowboys and Aliens.
Directed by Iron Man 2 helmer Jon Favreau is based on a graphic novel that involves, well, Wild West cowboys and Apaches teaming up to fight off an alien invasion. As far as Airbender, it's more of a fantasy than his other pieces of paranormal pop culture, but it looks like M. Night may be back.
Just like Twi-hards fawn over Robert Pattinson as dreamy bloodsucker Edward Cullen, Avatar: The Last Airbender fans have popularized the dark and brooding firebender Prince Zuko (a character that dodged the Jesse McCartney-casting bullet earlier this year).
Well, with the 2010 release of M. Night Shyamalan’s film adaptation of the series, (titled The Last Airbenderto avoid confusion with James Cameron's flick), we're starting to see a Twilight-Avatar connection. Especially when both movies have an actor in common: Jackson Rathbone.
But did you know Jackson Rathbone narrowly escaped both the roles that would set upon him mobs of rabid tween-and-teenage girls?
This past November, at the Twilight-arts hybrid festival event dubbed NewCon2009, Rathbone shared his casting experience for Airbender and revealed he originally auditioned not for the role of comic-relief Sokka (shown right), but for the dramatic Zuko.
Of course, as you'll see in the video below, somebody in the audience had to bring up his original audition for Edward Cullen, before he was cast as the charismatic Jasper Hale.
Creepy coincidence? Maybe, but we're just glad Jackson Rathbone will be churning out Sokka’s witty banter, and he won’t have to so much as touch the continual I-must-have-the-Avatar mantra. Thankfully, Jesse McCartney won’t have to, either.
The M. Night Shyamalan-produced demon-in-a-lift flick Devil (the first of the "M. Night Chronicles") reaches screens on Sept. 17, but the obvious spoof has already hit and it's masterminded by Shyamalan himself.
