M. Night writes ‘The Devil’ but passes on directing…

Heads up to all the Shyamalan-haters out there because I’m about to spill some new M. Night news. It appears Shyamalan is entering a phase of his career where he realizes he must abide by the laws of Darwin… adapt to survive or die.

Having been virtually crucified over ‘The Happening’ and nearly bankrupting himself with ‘Lady in the Water’ he needed something to turn his career back in the forward motion it began with. It’s old news that Shyamalan is currently working on a live-action feature adaptation of the popular anime series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ titles simply ‘Airbender’ since James Cameron has something of a lock on the ‘Avatar’ title.

What’s interesting about this is that ‘Airbender’ will be the first film that isn’t an original work of his own. It’s also worth noting that ‘Airbender’ seems to be a strange fit for Shyamalan. Now an even more peculiar twist has developed from Shyamalan, and it’s not a twist ending from on eof his films. Shyamalan will produce ‘Devil’, a new supernatural thriller (big surprise) from a script written by Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night) which is based on an original story by Shyamalan. The film will be directed not by Shyamalan, but by John Erick and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine).

“This is a dream for me. I wanted to find filmmakers that inspire me and I found them.” — M. Night Shyamalan

No details have been revealed as to the plot. ‘Devil’ will begin production next year and is targeting a PG-13 rating. I suppose Shyamalan fears his recent attempt at an R-Rating may have dampened his mojo.

[source: HollywoodReporter]