Still, it’s hard to deny that Shyamalan’s film still pull in sizable sums despite the negative press. The Village, which also received a rotten rating, pulled in $256 million worldwide. Willmore suggests that this may be the reason that production companies still put his name in top billing, crucifying him and highlighting his poor works for the sake of profit. Devil was written by Brian Nelson, who wrote Hard Candy, and directed by John Erick Dowdle, who also did Quarantine, and Shyamalan just came up with the story and is co-producing the movie. “Uwe Boll is a favorite fanboy joke, but your average filmgoer would never know him,” she said. (More on Techland: How Much Does It Cost To Make The Worst Film Of The Year? $280 Million)
That doesn’t mean that people aren’t rooting for him to return to form. Both Castro and Willmore agree that The Sixth Sense showed Shyamalan’s potential as a filmmaker. “I think part of the reason that people turned on him was that he started out with a film that was real good,” Willmore argued. “Someone who said they used to like him now feels betrayed.”
“The collective hope is that M. Night someday returns to good storytelling,” Castro said. “He’s certainly proven early in his career that he is capable of compelling cinema both visual and visceral.
In many ways, Shyamalan has become a modern-day Ed Wood, scoffed at by the public while making millions at the box office. Like the famed director, for all the complaints about his poor plotlines and bad special effects audiences will still watch his movies.
Castro, however, would hear none such talk: “I think that would be an insult to Ed Wood,” he said laughing.