M. Night Shyamalan Says ‘Remain’ Is “The Highest-Testing Movie of My Career”

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Here’s a twist for you: M. Night Shyamalan‘s next movie is the highest-testing film of his career.

That’s according to the prolific writer-director, who took the stage at Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on Wednesday to tout his upcoming film, Remain.

Remain is a romantic thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor, and Julie Hagerty. The project is co-created with author Nicholas Sparks and tells the story of an architect recovering from depression who moves to Cape Cod and encounters a mysterious woman. The creative collaboration resulted in a bestselling novel (released last year) and an upcoming film (coming Feb. 5, 2027).

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“My new movie began with a conversation, an unexpected one, with a celebrated author, Nicholas Sparks,” Shyamalan said. “He sold more than 130 million books worldwide and wrote one of the most iconic love stories ever, The Notebook. Romance is his territory. Mine’s a little different. I’m drawn to suspense, to twists and tension and stories that leave you just a little unsettled long after they are over. That feels like home to me.”

Continued the director: “We started from nothing, just a couple of questions: What scares you? What moves you? What stays with you? We challenged each other. We traded ideas and slowly wove two very different perspectives into a single, thrilling, supernatural love story. In the end, we get to tell it our own way. Mine through film, Nicholas through his novel.”

“The novel is not a novelization, and the film is not an adaptation. It’s two storytellers telling the story of Remain in their own way. Together, we created the story of recluse architect Tate Gordon, who moves to a small coastal town to complete his latest project when he encounters a beguiling young woman who pulls him out of his shell and into the center of a deadly mystery that hangs over this town.”

Shyamalan added, “Just between us, it’s my highest-testing movie of my career. We’re now in post-production, finding every detail. Honestly, my hope is that when you experience Remain, you feel both sides of it at once — full of love and that quiet, lingering unease that doesn’t let you go.”

Shyamalan has directed 16 films and written and produced many others. Given his filmography includes favorites like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, it will be interesting to see if Remain indeed ranks higher with moviegoers.

Shyamalan is coming off the success of his 2024 thriller Trap, about a serial killer (Josh Hartnett) who attends a concert only to discover the event has been intercepted by police who have been tipped off that he would be present.

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