If Samuel L. Jackson’s latest interview is to be believed, fans shouldn’t expect to see a sequel to “Unbreakable” anytime soon, not only because director M. Night Shyamalan has been hesitant to do it, but also because Jackson may have burned his bridges with the director.
While discussing his latest role in “Django Unchained,” Jackson was asked about the possibility of a follow-up to “Unbreakable,” and he revealed that there was actually “supposed to be three of them.” However, he insists that one would have to “have to ask the brilliant director who wrote it and didn’t do the rest of them” to find out why the films never happened.
Jackson continued to criticize Shyamalan by insisting he hasn’t “really made a good movie since ‘Unbreakable'” and that he’s nothing like Quentin Tarantino. Whereas Tarantino “makes movies that [Tarantino] wants to see,” Jackson doesn’t believe that “M. Night makes movies for the same reason.
The actor does believe that there’s definitely an audience for an “Unbreakable” sequel and insists that “everybody would be waiting for it” and that “the internet would go crazy for it.” Jackson even predicts that “it would trend through the roof now on Twitter.”
Assuming that Jackson is right (and it’s quite possible that he’s over-estimating the appeal of an “Unbreakable” sequel), bashing the director is an odd approach to take if he’s serious about returning to make even one sequel to the film.
Poor M. Night Shyamalan, right? It’s difficult to think of a director whose stock has plummeted as much during the past decade; when “Unbreakable” debuted, he was one of the most popular directors on the planet before he eventually struck out with audiences with later efforts like “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening.”
At this point, the trailer for this latest film, “After Earth,” doesn’t even doesn’t even bear his name. Perhaps that film will finally put him on the comeback trail and everyone will lay off a bit, including Jackson (who really has no room to talk considering some of the stuff he’s attached himself to in recent years).
