Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | |
Founded | August 2, 1998 |
Founder | M. Night Shyamalan |
Defunct | October 10, 2024 |
Headquarters | Berwyn, Pennsylvania, United States [1] |
Key people | M. Night Shyamalan [1] Ashwin Rajan [2] [3] |
Divisions | The Night Chronicles |
Blinding Edge Pictures is an American film and television production company, founded in 1998 by M. Night Shyamalan. [2] [4] [5] The company is known for producing films, such as the Unbreakable series, Signs , The Village , The Happening , After Earth , The Visit , Old and Knock at the Cabin .
On August 2, 1998, M. Night Shyamalan founded Blinding Edge Pictures. The first films produced by the company include Unbreakable , Signs , and The Village .
In July 2008, The Night Chronicles was formed as a division for Blinding Edge Pictures and Media Rights Capital. [6] The plan for this division was to create a trilogy of films with Shyamalan writing and producing the stories and picking the filmmakers while Media Rights Capital would finance the films. The first installment in The Night Chronicles trilogy was the 2010 horror film Devil helmed by John Erick Dowdle, the film revolves on five people trapped in an elevator where one of them is the Devil. [7] In June 2010, Reincarnate (formerly Twelve Strangers) was announced to be the second installment in the trilogy which would be helmed by Daniel Stamm, the film revolves on a jury that's haunted by supernatural forces while deliberating on a murder case. [8] In September 2010, the third installment in the trilogy would be a sequel to Shyamalan's film Unbreakable, the film would've focused on a villain origin story. [9]
In 2015, the company released its first television series Wayward Pines created by Chad Hodge and executive produced by Shyamalan and released by Fox. [10] [11]
In January 2016, it was announced that Shyamalan would executive produce a reboot of Tales from the Crypt as part of TNT's new two-hour horror block. The network ordered a 10-episode season that was slated for Fall 2017. [12] [13] The series was to keep the episodic anthology format based on the Tales from the Crypt comics by EC Comics rather than the 1989 series, with the Cryptkeeper not being featured in the reboot. In June 2017, it was announced that TNT would not move forward with the series due to legal rights. [14] [15]
In 2019, the company released its second television series Servant , created by Tony Basgallop and executive produced by Shyamalan and released by Apple TV+. [16]
In February 2023, Shyamalan signed a multi-year first-look directing and producing deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, thus ending his deal with Universal Pictures. [17] The deal would have Shyamalan and his company develop original projects for the filmmaker to produce and/or direct for WBPG production divisions Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. The first two films from the deal included The Watchers, written and directed by Shyamalan's daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan and Trap, written and directed by Shyamalan, both released in 2024. [18]
Release date | Film | Director(s) | Budget | Gross | Distributor(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 22, 2000 | Unbreakable | M. Night Shyamalan | $75 million | $248.1 million | Buena Vista Pictures |
August 2, 2002 | Signs | $72 million | $408.2 million | ||
July 30, 2004 | The Village | $60 million | $256.7 million | ||
July 21, 2006 | Lady in the Water | $70 million | $72.8 million | Warner Bros. Pictures | |
June 13, 2008 | The Happening | $48 million | $163.4 million | 20th Century Fox | |
July 1, 2010 | The Last Airbender | $150 million | $319.7 million | Paramount Pictures | |
September 17, 2010 | Devil | John Erick Dowdle | $10 million | $62.7 million | Universal Pictures |
May 31, 2013 | After Earth | M. Night Shyamalan | $130 million | $243.6 million | Sony Pictures Releasing |
September 11, 2015 | The Visit | $5 million | $98.5 million | Universal Pictures | |
January 20, 2017 | Split | $9 million | $278.5 million | ||
January 18, 2019 | Glass | $20 million [19] | $247 million | ||
July 23, 2021 | Old | $18 million | $90.1 million | ||
February 3, 2023 | Knock at the Cabin | $20 million | $54.8 million | ||
June 7, 2024 [20] | The Watchers | Ishana Night Shyamalan | $30 million [21] [22] | $30.5 million [21] [23] | Warner Bros. Pictures |
August 2, 2024 [24] | Trap | M. Night Shyamalan | $30 million | — | |
October 10, 2024 | Caddo Lake | Celine Held Logan George | — | — |
Year | Series | Creator(s) | Network |
---|---|---|---|
2015–16 | Wayward Pines | Chad Hodge | Fox |
2019–23 | Servant | Tony Basgallop | Apple TV+ |
Unbreakable is a 2000 American superhero thriller film written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robin Wright. It is the first installment in the Unbreakable film series. In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Willis) survives a train crash with no injuries, leading to the realization that he harbors superhuman abilities. As he begins to grapple with this discovery, he comes to the attention of disabled comic book store owner Elijah Price (Jackson), who manipulates David to understand him.
Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe.
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series created by William Gaines and Steven Dodd that ran for seven seasons on the premium cable channel HBO, from June 10, 1989, to July 19, 1996, with a total of 93 episodes. The show's title is based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name, published by William Gaines and edited by Al Feldstein. Despite the show's title, episodes were not only adapted from stories from Tales from the Crypt, but also other EC Comic series including The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Crime SuspenStories, Shock SuspenStories, and Two-Fisted Tales.
David Samuel Goyer is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998), the Blade trilogy (1998–2004), Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). He has also directed four films: Zig Zag (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), The Invisible (2007) and The Unborn (2009). He is the creator of the science fiction television series Foundation which is loosely based upon the Foundation series written by Isaac Asimov.
A superhero film centers on superheroes and their actions. Superheroes are individuals who often possess superhuman abilities or extraordinary skills. These films typically feature action, adventure, fantasy, or science fiction elements. The first film about a particular character often focuses on the hero's origin story and typically introduces the hero's nemesis.
Lady in the Water is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin and Jared Harris in supporting roles. Produced by Legendary Pictures and Blinding Edge Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film's plot concerns the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex who discovers a young woman in the swimming pool. Gradually, he and his neighbors learn that she is a water nymph whose life is in danger from a vicious, wolf-like, mystical creature called a Scrunt that tries to keep her from returning to her watery "blue world". Lady in the Water was released on July 21, 2006. It is Shyamalan's first film not distributed by Walt Disney Studios under their Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures labels since Wide Awake.
Dark Castle Entertainment is a film, TV, and digital projects production label. It is owned by North American sports and entertainment company, OEG Inc. The firm is led by co-CEOs Hal Sadoff and Norman Golightly.
Barry Mendel is an American film producer. Mendel first produced Wes Anderson’s Rushmore starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. This was followed by The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Subsequently, he produced Shyamalan's follow-up, Unbreakable, then went back to work with Anderson on The Royal Tenenbaums, which was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Their collaboration continued on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which Mendel followed by producing Joss Whedon’s feature film directorial debut, Serenity. Mendel next conceived, developed and produced Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg, which was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture. He then produced Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s debut as a feature director, which starred Elliot Page and Kristen Wiig. Mendel produced another film with Page, Peacock, which co-starred Cillian Murphy and Susan Sarandon.
Nina Jacobson is an American film executive who, until July 2006, was president of the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. With Dawn Steel, Gail Berman and Sherry Lansing, she was one of the last of a handful of women to head a Hollywood film studio since the 1980s. She established her own production company called Color Force in 2007, and was the producer of The Hunger Games film series.
Matt Reeves is an American filmmaker who first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster film Cloverfield (2008). He also directed the vampire drama Let Me In (2010), and the critically acclaimed science fiction sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He directed the superhero film The Batman (2022), which stars Robert Pattinson as the title character.
Devil is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle. The screenplay by Brian Nelson was from a story by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O'Hara, and Bokeem Woodbine, the film revolves around five strangers who become trapped in an elevator. Devil was released on September 17, 2010. Critics praised the film's atmosphere and performances, but criticized the short running-time.
Chris Sparling is an American filmmaker from Providence, Rhode Island.
Split is a 2016 American superhero thriller film written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The film follows a man with dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility.
Glass is a 2019 American superhero thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a crossover and sequel to Shyamalan's previous films Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) and the third and final installment in the Unbreakable trilogy. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard reprise their Unbreakable roles, while James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy return as their Split characters, with Sarah Paulson, Adam David Thompson, and Luke Kirby joining the cast. The film sees David Dunn / The Overseer as he and Kevin Wendell Crumb / The Horde are captured and placed in a psychiatric facility with Elijah Price / Mr. Glass, where they contemplate the authenticity of their superhuman powers.
The Unbreakable trilogy, also known as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy, is an American superhero thriller and psychological horror film series. The films were written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The trilogy consists of Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016), and Glass (2019).
Indian-American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan began his career in 1992 with the student film Praying with Anger, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. He then wrote the screenplays for the comedy movies Wide Awake and Stuart Little (1999). In 1999, he rose to prominence for writing and directing the supernatural movie The Sixth Sense, for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He then wrote, directed, and produced the superhero movie Unbreakable, the first entry in the Eastrail 177 Trilogy followed by Split in 2016 and Glass in 2019.
Knock at the Cabin is a 2023 American apocalyptic psychological horror film written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote the screenplay from an initial draft by Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman. It is based on the 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay, the first adaptation of one of his works. The film stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint. In the film, a family is vacationing at a remote cabin when they are suddenly held hostage by four strangers who ask them to do something unimaginable.
Trap is a 2024 American psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill, it follows a serial killer evading a police blockade while attending a concert with his daughter. The film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in late 2023. It premiered in New York City on July 24, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 2, 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $82.7 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget.
The Watchers is a 2024 American supernatural horror fantasy film written for the screen and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan in her directorial debut, produced by M. Night Shyamalan, and based on the 2021 novel by A. M. Shine. It stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré and Oliver Finnegan, and follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist who becomes trapped in a vast, untouched forest in the west of Ireland. Seeking shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are stalked by mysterious creatures every night.