As film production resumes around the world due to the gradual lessening of COVID-19 related restrictions, prolific writer and director M. Night Shyamalan is already hard at work. Shyamalan tweeted on-location from the Dominican Republic, where production has currently begun for his next feature film. Entitled Old, the film’s poster artwork – also revealed by Shyamalan via Twitter – depicts a black-and-white hourglass with human bodies pouring through it instead of sand.
Old, which is currently being marketed using the slogan “It’s only a matter of time,” is currently planned to release on July 23, 2021. Shyamalan had originally hoped for a February release, but was forced to delay due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Feels like a miracle that I am standing here shooting the first shot of my new film. It's called Old. #OldMovie @OldTheMovie pic.twitter.com/hth8jUum8K
— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) September 26, 2020
Shyamalan revealed that Old was inspired by Sandcastle, a 2010 French graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters. Sandcastle tells the horrifying story of thirteen individuals who are stuck on a small beach, unable to leave as they experience rapid aging which threatens to kill all of them within a single day. Reviews for the highly praised graphic novel have described it as “existential” and “Kafkaesque”.
The writer and director’s previous projects, 2017’s Split and 2019’s Glass, completed a trilogy which had begun with the 2000 film Unbreakable. Old will be Shyamalan’s first film in five years which will not be connected to Unbreakable in some way. However, based on the film’s poster, slogan and inspiration, it seems likely that Old will share a genre – psychological horror – with many of his recent projects.
A number of actors are currently attached to Old, including Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects), Nikki Amuka-Bird (A Private War,) Alex Wolff (Hereditary,) Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread,) Ken Leung (Saw) and many others. So far, only Scanlen’s character has been revealed, but has been described merely as “a young woman named Isabelle”.
Are you looking forward to Old? Do you think the world is ready for a new Shyamalan film? Just how terrifying do you think it will be? Let us know!
