Director Ishana Night Shyamalan Talks 'The Watchers' and Shares Footage
Moviefone speaks with director Ishana Night Shyamalan about 'The Watchers' and screens footage. "It had the fantasy bend that I'm interested in," she said.
'The Watchers' director Ishana Night Shyamalan at CinemaCon 2024. Photo: Warner Bros.
Scheduled to open in theaters on June 14th is the new supernatural thriller ‘The Watchers,’ which is based on the novel of the same name by author A.M. Shine and was produced by acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (‘Unbreakable’) and directed by his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamala (‘Servant’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of attending an event called “Summer of Shyamalan,” which included the screening of the new trailer from M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap,’ as well as 10 minutes of footage from first time feature film director Ishana Night Shyamalan's ‘The Watchers.’
Related Article: Director M. Night Shyamalan Talks 'Trap' Trailer and Explains New Movie
What Footage Did We See?
(L to R) Oliver Finnegan as Daniel, Olwen Fouere as Madeline, Dakota Fanning as Mina and Georgina Campbell as Ciara in New Line Cinema’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy thriller 'The Watchers,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
The screening began with a sequence from the film that features Dakota Fanning’s Mina traveling in a car with her pet bird, Darwin. When Mina comes across a “Point of No Return” sign, her car breaks down and she begins walking in through looking for help. Mina soon begins lost and cannot find her way back to the car. After she is attacked by a group of bats, Mina sees someone running through the woods and she follows.
Mina discovers an older woman standing in front of a mysterious door in the woods. The woman says, “If you want to live, you’ll have to run.” Mina runs into the doorway and is lead to a strange room where she is locked in with the woman and two other strangers. It is explained to Mina that she will be safe if she stays in the room because the Watchers can’t come in.
Mina notices a large window in the room and suddenly is told to get in a line with the other strangers to meet the Watchers. The sequence ends with a character saying, “Welcome to the show.” The scene was followed by a screening of the new trailer, which was released today and you can watch below.
(L to R) Georgina Campbell as Ciara and Dakota Fanning as Mina in New Line Cinema’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy thriller 'The Watchers,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
What did Ishana Night Shyamalan say about ‘The Watchers’?
'The Watchers' director Ishana Night Shyamalan at CinemaCon 2024. Photo: Warner Bros.
After the screening, we had a chance to speak exclusively with writer and director Ishana Night Shyamalan about her work on ‘The Watchers’.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about adapting the novel and the themes you wanted to explore with this movie?
Ishana Night Shyamalan: I think so many things. That was something I was very considerate about when entering. Now I know it's an incredible amount of work and takes a lot of endurance and you lose yourself in so many ways. My dad gave me this advice, he's like, "Look for the piece that has an unending well for you. That sort of feels like you can never stop thinking about it, and you go deeper and deeper." This book came to me and felt like it had that. It had the fantasy bend that I'm interested in and a very beautiful horror structure to it, and characters that I felt like could be painted and played with. So, it just had those elements and it felt also very representative of me and what I was dealing with now.
MF: Obviously, with your last name, audiences will be expecting a certain type of movie from you. Did you embrace that or deliberately try to invert expectations?
INS: Absolutely. I think I've always been very acutely aware of at least in my mind, what the perception will be and what the expectations are. I was really interested in playing with those expectations. So, starting with something that felt expected and then expanding into something that's very me and kind of like an indication of what I want to do. So, my hope is that it does that where it satisfies the feeling that you come in wanting, but then kind of takes you somewhere else a bit.
MF: Finally, did you seek advice from your dad while making the movie, or did you want to do it on your own?
INS: He's been just the most incredible mentor throughout this process. He cares so much, which can be very overwhelming for me at moments. I think there's constantly an ego thing in it for me where I'm like, "I want to do this on my own. I don't want to be tethered to your way of thinking." That's just me being an egotistical young person. So, I constantly am trying to honor the opportunity I've been given. I was born in this life where I have access to an incredible artist here. So, it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing. I hope I've made him proud in the process.
When Will ‘The Watchers’ Be in Theaters?
‘The Watchers’ is scheduled for release on June 14th.
What is the plot of ‘The Watchers’?
28-year-old artist Mina (Dakota Fanning) gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. Upon finding shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Watchers’?
- Dakota Fanning (‘Man on Fire,’ ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’) as Mina
- Georgina Campbell (‘Barbarian’) as Ciara
- Oliver Finnegan (‘Outlander’) as Daniel
- Olwen Fouéré (‘The Northman’) as Madeline
(L to R) Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan of 'Trap' and writer/director Ishana Shyamalan of 'The Watchers' attend the "Summer of Shyamalan" event at Soho House on April 16, 2024 in West Hollywood, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.
Other M. Night Shyamalan Movies:
- 'Praying with Anger' (1992)
- 'Wide Awake' (1998)
- 'The Sixth Sense' (1999)
- 'Unbreakable' (2000)
- 'Signs' (2002)
- 'The Village' (2004)
- 'Lady in the Water' (2006)
- 'The Happening' (2008)
- 'The Last Airbender' (2010)
- 'After Earth' (2013)
- 'The Visit' (2015)
- 'Split' (2016)
- 'Glass' (2019)
- 'Old' (2021)
- 'Knock at the Cabin' (2023)
Buy M. Night Shyamalan Movies on Amazon
