M Night Shyamalan ropes in Jake Gyllenhaal for new movie

LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker M Night Shyamalan is set to collaborate with Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal for his next directorial project.The project is a supernatural romantic thriller, based on an original story co-created by Shyamalan and bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks, reported entertainment news outlet Deadline.

Both Projects based on same Project

Shyamalan and Sparks are independently creating a screenplay and a novel, respectively, both inspired by the same original love story. Each project will feature the same core concept and characters, but will be uniquely adapted to suit its medium.

Both projects will be based on the same concept and set of characters, but tailored to their respective mediums. For Shyamalan not only does he land another A-lister to lead his family as so many are always looking to work with him, this also marks the first time he will collaborate with a high-profile writer on an idea, something to surely excite fans of the master storyteller.

Jake Gyllenhaal set to feature in his next film

Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan will produce through Blinding Edge Pictures, alongside Sparks’ longtime producing partner Theresa Park and Marc Bienstock. Sparks is Executive Producer. Shyamalan’s Blinding Edge Pictures will produce the film, which is in discussions with WB for theatrical release. 

Sparks and Shyamalan working on a same novel

For Gyllenhaal, this follows a stellar year that started with his hit reinvention of the classic action pic Road House at Amazon MGM Studios. The film was a massive hit for the studio breaking streaming records with a sequel already in development. He followed that up with the critically acclaimed limited series Presumed Innocent for Apple TV+, another hit that earned him a Golden Globe nomination. This year he will share the stage starting next month with Denzel Washington in an adaptation of Othello on Broadway.

Shyamalan has captured the attention of audiences around the world for almost two decades, creating films that have amassed more than $3 billion worldwide as he is coming off another summer hit with his thriller Trap starring Josh Hartnett.