COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Shyamalan's Sixth Sense To Unveil In August

Arthur J Pais in New York

The release of the psychological drama, Sixth Sense, written and directed by Night Shyamalan and starring Bruce Willis, has been pushed up from September 20 to August 10. There is a fierce competition between Hollywood studios to grab a piece of the box-office in the early days of fall.

The Walt Disney film has been generating strong buzz. Hollywood insiders believe Willis will get his first real chance at an Oscar nomination, and Shyamalan, who has several scripts at work at other studios, including Columbia Pictures, could start directing a big budget film aimed at teenagers by early next year.

One of the youngest directors in Hollywood, Shyamalan, 29, has written and directed two other films. Praying With Anger, a cross-cultural drama, was shot in Madras five years ago. Son of doctors based near Philadelphia, Shyamalan had "borrowed" about $ 1 million to make the film, which traveled to several film festivals, got many positive reviews, and eventually got back the investment.

His second film, Wide Awake, set in a junior school and dealing with the subject of death and miracles, had a cameo performance by Rossie O'Donnel, actress and talk show host, was produced by Walt Disney. Vice-President Al Gore was the chief guest at the film's fund-raising premiere in New York City that raised over $ 100,000.

But the film, which was made for $ 5 million, received mixed reviews, and earned less than $ 1 million at the box-office. It had a modest video sale. Shyamalan's discovery, Joseph Cross, who in the movie tries to make sense of the phenomenon of death, and seeks to connect with his just dead grandfather, has become one of the hot young actors in Hollywood, and has two major movies due in the next 12 months.

Cross, seen recently in the Michael Keaton film, Jack Frost, says Shyamalan "makes everybody feel comfortable and important at the shoot..."

Despite the failure of Wide Awake, Walt Disney stood by Shyamalan and gave him the green light for the $ 35 million Sixth Sense. Studio insiders say Disney honchos were impressed by the script and professionalism shown by the director while working on Wide Awake.

"Hollywood is full of directors whose first or second films were not successful, but someone saw promise in them and were prepared to gamble a lot of money on their subsequent projects," says Paul Noglows, a short film-maker, who was a writer for the trade publication Variety for several years.

Steven Spielberg's Sugarland Express, a low budget film starring Goldie Hawn, received mixed reviews and bombed at the box-office. But producer David Brown signed the director forJaws. The film, released over two decades ago, was made for $ 20 million, a huge budget then.

Shyamalan's project's reputation soared when Willis, saying he wanted a departure from the high octane, adrenaline pumping films, offered to act in it for a fee far less than his customary $ 20 million. He will reportedly get a backend payment, sharing part of the film's box-office.

Wide Awake opened on a handful of screens and by the time it wound up in about four weeks, it had played on about 150 screens. Sixth Sense will have a wider release, reaching more than 1,500 screens.

August-September was once considered a dumping ground for Hollywood films. The movie industry kept its better films for November-December. But in recent years, the summer box-office has continued to spill into late August and September.

Previous story: Providian Shares Dip As Fraud Investigation Continues

Tell us what you think of this feature