The still-untitled film will be produced by Jason Blum, who’s quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood with a series of low-budget horror and suspense projects that have reaped substantial returns, including The Lazarus Effect, Unfriended, Insidious Chapter 3, and the current, critically praised thriller The Gift. Deadline reports that the mystery project will begin filming this November in Shyamalan’s hometown of Philadelphia.
Like most Shyamalan projects, the unidentified film’s plot synopsis is a closely guarded secret at this point. The report does indicate that the movie’s budget will likely be on the lower end of the spectrum, more in line with his upcoming thriller The Visit, which was also produced by Blum.
While Shyamalan has had a rough time of it in recent years with several underperforming, big-budget projects, The Visit is earning quite a bit of critical praise ahead of its September 11 wide release in theaters. That film follows a pair of kids whose trip to their grandparents’ house goes horribly awry when they discover that all is not as it seems with the elderly couple.
Prior to Shyamalan’s more recent, disappointing projects, the filmmaker enjoyed a string of hits, beginning with 1999’s The Sixth Sense and followed by a film many consider a precursor to the now-trendy “dark” superhero movies, Unbreakable. He then directed the aforementioned Signs and The Village, both of which featured Phoenix in leading roles.
Shyamalan’s most recent project is the FOX series Wayward Pines, which has received quite a bit of positive buzz. He directed the pilot for the series and serves as executive producer on the project.
There’s no word on when the mystery project with Phoenix will be officially announced.
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