Speaking to GQ in a retrospective interview to promote his latest film CatchM. Night Shyamalan looks back on one of the most important moments of his career: when a studio refused to market his 2000 film Unbreakable as a comic book adaptation.

On the back of The sixth senseShyamalan and star Bruce Willis had just made a film that grossed $672 million worldwide and received six Oscar nominations. The studio’s reluctance to Unbreakable as part of the emerging superhero genre shows how differently comic book adaptations are perceived today.

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Shyamalan explained that the studio wanted to sell Unbreakable as a horror thriller than it was a film about comics.”If you deny what it is because you are afraid it might be different, then you rob it of all its power.“, Shyamalan explained. “They were like, ‘We made one of the greatest movies of all time and the same two people are making another movie. Let’s make it look like that movie.’ As opposed to what it was, which was the beginning of a whole genre. They didn’t realize it because they were too afraid to say the word ‘comic book.'”

Shyamalan had envisioned something that would evolve the concept of a superhero film into something more refined and intrinsic, with character development and deep philosophical themes, away from the typical action conventions associated with superhero films. The studio was afraid to market the film as a comic book film, as they believed audiences were not quite prepared to handle that type of concept. “That was literally the thing that was like, no one would watch a movie about a comic book,” Shyamalan recalled the studio saying. “That was literally like, you can’t do that. And I thought, ‘I love it! Maybe there are other people who would look at this as a myth too and enjoy it.'”

How marketing decisions shaped a genre

The studio’s reluctance had far-reaching consequences. The film was released in the fall of 2000 and was met with mixed reviews and disappointment among audiences. The aim was to create a horror thriller similar to The sixth senseShyamalan mentioned that most viewers were confused and disappointed that Unbreakable was not what they expected. “Other people came and went and said, ‘That wasn’t scary,'” he said. “And I thought: “Who said it would be like this? Who said it would be scary?””

The experience on Unbreakable Shyamalan learned a valuable lesson about collaboration and creative vision. “I learned a really interesting lesson: If I want to be a lifelong purveyor of original stories, I have to find partners who understand that we’re reinventing ourselves every time, and we should celebrate that,” he reflected. Unbreakable’s influence on the superhero genre was only partially recognized in hindsight.

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Although the film was released only a few months after the first fff The film popularized the comic book genre, but it wasn’t until Spider-Man in 2002 that the popularity of such films exploded. Shyamalan’s film is considered a pioneer in the development of superhero cinema and shows the complex dance between creative vision and marketing strategy.

Catch is now showing in cinemas nationwide.

Source: Variety

Unbreakable

A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

director

M. Night Shyamalan

Release date

22 November 2000

Pour

Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright

Duration

1 hour 46 minutes