Everything We Know About The Watchers, Ishana Night Shyamalan's Directing Debut
Like father, like daughter: Ishana Night Shyamalan is joining her dad, M. Night Shyamalan, in the family business of making movies by directing "The Watchers," the forthcoming thriller set up at New Line. Now, before you start breaking out your best nepo baby wisecracks, it's worth noting that Ishana Night Shyamalan has already helmed multiple episodes of "Servant," the critically-acclaimed Apple TV+ horror/thriller series that was executive produced and co-directed by her pop. M. Night Shyamalan didn't merely hire Ishana for "Servant" hoping she would prove to have a knack for visual storytelling, either.
"Ishana is one of several filmmakers that I hired based off of their short films," he explained to Entertainment Weekly. He added that, at 30 minutes long, each episode of "Servant" is "basically a short film" in and of itself. Having already seen her short films at NYU's Tish School, the "Sixth Sense" and "Knock at the Cabin" filmmaker told his daughter, "'I think you should take this shot. I think you should take a semester off from school and you should come here and do this.'" His instincts proved to be right on the money; Ishana played a hands-on role in delivering some of the show's best-reviewed seasons.
So, what can we expect from the next generation of Shyamalan on the big screen? Here's everything we know about "The Watchers" so far.
The Watchers release date and where you can (heh) watch it
"The Watchers" is slated make its way into theaters on June 7, 2024 — a date that will also see the "John Wick" spinoff "Ballerina" and an as-yet-untitled "Karate Kid" movie hit the big screen. Granted that it's being backed by New Line and its parent studio Warner Bros., "The Watchers" will eventually become available for streaming on Max, aka. the streaming service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ scheduled to go live on May 23, 2023. Don't expect it to reach Max too quickly, though, now that Warner Bros. Discovery is making the theatrical market a bigger focus than streaming.
M. Night Shyamalan, of course, has long been a vocal proponent of the theatrical experience and looks to continue releasing his directorial efforts theatrically, even while lending his talents to streaming ventures like "Servant." In fact, just like his daughter, the filmmaker is making his next movie, "Trap," for Warner Bros., having signed a first-look deal with the studio in early 2023.
What we know about the plot of The Watchers
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Irish author A.M. Shine, "The Watchers" centers on Mina, an artist who finds herself stranded in an unmapped, sprawling forest in western Ireland. As if that wasn't bad enough, she's then forced to seek shelter with a trio of strangers to evade the mysterious creatures that stalk and capture anyone who stays out after nightfall. Terrifying monsters and roommates you've never met before? Honestly, it's hard to say which one seems scarier.
On paper, "The Watchers" sounds a whole lot like the type of thrillers M. Night Shyamalan has specialized in since he started working exclusively on low-budget projects (like "Knock at the Cabin," as pictured above) — many of which revolve around strangers being trapped in the same location and tormented by enigmatic forces (and as such, by extension, M. Night himself). Will Ishana Night Shyamalan also share her dad's fondness for taking tried-and-tried thriller tropes and flipping them on their heads, often to subversive and polarizing effect? It's a good question and part of what makes her directing debut so intriguing. That and the possibility that, much like her father, the filmmaker won't be afraid of straying from her adaptations' source material in dark and twisted ways.
What we know about the cast and crew of The Watchers
Ishana Night Shyamalan is both writing and directing "The Watchers," with M. Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan producing for Blinding Edge Pictures. Dakota Fanning, who's been making thrillers since she was a child actor with roles in films like "Trapped" and "Hide and Seek," will star as Mina in the film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Barbarian" breakout Georgina Campbell (seen above) will co-star as one of the strangers Mina encounters during her not-so-happy adventures in the uncharted forests of Ireland.
For as much as we all love to debate the quality of M. Night Shyamalan's output as a director, we're honestly lucky to have him. He's a storyteller who always aspires to say something meaningful with his films in unexpected or challenging ways — a genuine artist, in other words, and not someone whose creative visions feel like they were automated by a computer program. If we're fortunate, Ishana Night Shyamalan will follow his lead and carve out an identity all her own as a filmmaker, whatever that might be.
Once more with feeling: "The Watchers" opens in theaters on June 7, 2024.