Regarding his original films, M. Night Shyamalan shows a clear preference for undeniable titles. He began his career directing films such as Praying With Anger, Wide Awake, and The Sixth Sense, but more than one piece of his work since then has been summed up in a single word (ignoring the article “The” in The Village, The Happening, and The Visit). It has become a “thing” in his filmography, but in 2002 he had to fight for his fifth film to be called Signs.
M’s latest one-word film. Night Shyamalan, Trap, hits theaters this Friday, and while recently talking about the paintings with Indiewire, the filmmaker reflected on the behind-the-scenes clash through Signs 22 years ago. Explaining his general philosophy, Shyamalan said:
It’s something attractive. I told Warner Bros. that in my experience, when we release my movies, you take a common word and then you have to create some other meaning for it. Creating a new association is simple or complicated.
In the case of Signs, M. Night Shyamalan sought to get audiences to think about the “signs” of an alien invasion, especially crop circles, which enthusiasts will consider an important component of the film’s marketing before its theatrical release. By creating a direct strategy in advertising, Disney executives, who worried that this undeniable technique would not help them sell the film, made their concerns clear.
Speaking of the war and how Signs as a name “speaks to him,” Shyamalan said:
There may have been concerns that other people liked the title, but all those concerns evaporated when the film hit theaters in the first week of August 2002. The Signs hit the big screen in the second week of the release of Austin Powers In Goldmember (which was noticeably delayed by $73. 1 million), however, stole the spotlight and became an instant hit: it earned $60. 1 million in its first 3 days on By the end of the hit sci-fi horror film’s theatrical release, it had grossed $228 million in the United States and Canada and $408. 3 million worldwide.
The name is obviously not a problem.
If you’re curious to rewatch the alien invasion movie, the good news is that Signs is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s recent streams and is available with a Max subscription. Meanwhile, the writer-director hopes Trap, starring Josh Hartnett, will end up being a big box office hit when it releases this week.
Eric Eisenberg is an associate editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating with a degree in journalism from Boston University, he accepted a part-time job as an editor at CinemaBlend and, after six months, was presented with the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and hire a newly minted editor-in-chief. position on the west coast. More than a decade later, he continues to advance his interests and abilities. In addition to conducting interviews with filmmakers and contributing to the site’s news content and features, Eric also oversees the movie review section, writes the weekend box office report (published on Sundays), and is the site’s resident expert, Stephen King. He has two columns similar to King.
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