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7 New Images from THE DARK KNIGHT RISESM. Night Shyamalan Teams Will Smith on Sci-Fi Flick ONE THOUSAND A.E.; Jaden Smith May Star
by Jeff Ames Posted:October 20th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
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Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan may team up with Will Smith on his next movie venture. According to recent reports, the secretive director is collaborating with Smith’s Overbrook production company on a science fiction film titled One Thousand A.E. While nothing is concrete at the moment, Heat Vision states that the project is being developed as a starring vehicle for Smith’s son Jaden, last seen in The Karate Kid remake earlier this year. No word on whether Big Willie will figure in the film — suffice to say the last time he and Jaden teamed up, they created a little masterpiece entitled The Pursuit of Happyness.
However, the best part about this breaking news is that Shyamalan will not write the script! I repeat: he will not write the script! That job will instead fall on Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), meaning Shyamalan will stick to what he does best: directing. Sony will likely produce A.E., though that too is merely speculation. Hit the jump for more mind bending twists.
With The Last Airbender I learned two things: 1) That Shyamalan should never again in the history of the world write another screenplay, and 2) That Shyamalan the director is one of the best in the industry – The Happening notwithstanding. Airbender was disappointing, to say the least, but the action sequences were quite brilliant. Shyamalan knows how to craft an effective scene; he just doesn’t know how to write dialogue. With news that Whitta will write the screenplay, though, maybe Shyamalan has learned his lesson (the one he should have learned about three or four movies ago). I’ve always felt he could be the best in the business if he would just set aside his massive ego and focus on crafting great stories instead of focusing on various ways to slap “Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan” at the finale of each of his films.
Smith on the other hand is a bankable actor, but one who is clearly itching for some Oscar recognition (see Seven Pounds … or wait … maybe you shouldn’t). He’s a terrific actor, but one who is in dire need of a new franchise. I had hoped that his entertaining, but oddly misguided superhero flick Hancock would lead to bigger and better sequels. Such is not the case as Smith is keenly trying to reignite the flames of yesteryear with returns to the Men in Black and Independence Day films, for better or worse.
Tellingly, I would love to see Big Willie team with Shyamalan in a thriller (perhaps a Hancock versus David Dunn superhero pic), but for now Jaden will do. The young actor proved himself quite the talent in The Karate Kid. Maybe this move will shoot him to A-list status. Or is he already there?
Another interesting tidbit is that A.E. is not the “top secret” project the director was shopping around back in June, which was rumored to reunite him with his Unbreakable and Sixth Sense star Bruce Willis. According to the report, it never found a buyer, and was “quietly shelved.”
What do you think? Is this a good move for Shyamalan? Should Smith, Sr. star? Is Jaden the man?
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Related Links
- Will Smith’s 1000 A.E. Scheduled for June 7, 2013; WANDERLUST Pushed Back to February 24, 2012
- Jaden Smith Joins Will Smith in M. Night Shyamalan’s Untitled Sci-Fi Project
- Set Photos from M. Night Shyamalan’s AFTER EARTH Starring Will Smith
- THE HUNGER GAMES’ Isabelle Furhman to Join Will Smith in AFTER EARTH
- Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo May Join Will and Jaden Smith in Shyamalan’s 1000 A.E
This news is absolutely fantastic. Lets see what Director M Knight can do when he isn’t writing and with rising star Jaden and current superstar Will Smith involved in the genre that made him famous? Bring it on!
I feel like I’m one of Shyamalan’s few remaining fans, and I’m glad to see a fair and balanced POV on him here. I avoided seeing ‘The Last Airbender’, but I still think Shyamalan’s a pretty fine writer when he has the right material. He just needs limitations. Badly. Just look at what he gave us when he had to struggle his way up the latter; a couple bad films, yes, but also one of the best supernatural horror films of the past thirty years. I’ve got a review of ‘The Sixth Sense here: http://thesilvermirror.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/classic-review-the-sixth-sense/
Will Smith, meanwhile, continues to prove himself to be an awfully intelligent guy. Here’s hoping he’ll make use of Shyamalan’s talents and fill in the gaps with his own.
When I first read your claim that what M. Night Shyamalan does best is directing, I just about choked on my water. I thought of the terrible performances in both The Happening and The Last Airbender, performances that were due to bad directing as much as a bad script.
Reading further, though, I suppose you do have a bit of a point, but I still don’t trust the man. Unless the reviews for this come back absolutely glowing, I’m not coming within spitting distance of another movie which bears Shyamalan’s name, even if he’s only credited as the Donut Boy.
I believe Donut Boy would technically be called Craft Services.
When I first read your claim that what M. Night Shyamalan does best is directing, I just about choked on my water. I thought of the terrible performances in both The Happening and The Last Airbender, performances that were due to bad directing as much as a bad script.
Reading further, though, I suppose you do have a bit of a point, but I still don’t trust the man. Unless the reviews for this come back absolutely glowing, I’m not coming within spitting distance of another movie which bears Shyamalan’s name, even if he’s only credited as the Donut Boy.
This is great now I can avoid Jaden Smith, Will Smith and Shymalan all through avoiding one film! perfect!
Boooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The action sequences in Airbender were “quite brilliant”? Lol! That Earthbending prison camp sequence has some of the worst one-shot action sequences I’ve ever seen. Shyamalan clearly couldn’t direct the extras and his treatment of the show’s martial arts was just horrendous.