It’s been four years since M. Night Shyamalan was last able to scare up much interest in one of his mind-bending thrillers, so this time the master of the twist ending is resorting to a trick he hasn’t tried before: a first-ever R rating. And Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind The Happening, is running with it, having chosen to tout the rating in large, bright-red type on virtually every piece of marketing material for the June 13 release. Starring Mark Wahlberg as a high school teacher on the run from an invisible deadly force, The Happening is one of only a few movies in recent history that have used the rating as a cornerstone of their promotional campaigns. But with the R-rated Sex and the City, The Strangers, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall having done boffo business at the box office this year, and with a bunch more potential R hits coming down the pike (Wanted, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder) it couldn’t come at a better time to reignite M. Night’s career.
So is all this R talk rankling the MPAA’s ratings board, which discourages studios from sensationalizing restricted content in movies? Surprisingly not. The MPAA says all the ads were approved by the advertising administration. And John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, who is constantly asking the studios for more family-friendly films, is actually happy with the emphasis on the rating. “Everybody now has the information that it’s a different type of film from a filmmaker they know. If that means more people will go, then more power to them.”
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who cares about the R rating – the bottom line is, will it be any good? His first 3 movies were very good, the last 2 – not so much (Lady in the Water & the Village, although the Village was the better of the two). These previews haven’t gotten me hyped up.
M. Night needs to get over himself. Yes, Sixth Sense was great–REALLY great. But the marketing for this movie, more than any other disappointment he’s put out since Unbreakable, was truly shameless. “We’ve SENSEd it…..We’ve seen the SIGNS…” Jesus. Is the full title for this movie “M. Night Shyamalan presents M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Happening,’ written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan”?
I think he is a very talented writer and director and I liked The Village.
I am glad it’s rated R if that means it’s going to be a more honest film for it. If not though, and they just wanted to put in gratutious nudity and violence, I am not as interested. Hope this one’s more like his first couple of movies than his last couple.
I love Mark Wahlberg, so I am excited to see him either way
I don’t think the public gives a crap what the rating is. I don’t even KNOW a movies rating when I go see it.
Looks great though.
“Unbreakable” was genius and such an underrated movie. Just as good as 6thSense if not better.
Signs is one of my favorite movies of all time.
I was burned so badly by his last two films — the HORRIBLE Village and Ok- to still bad LADY IN THE WATER. The preview is starting to look good, but this will be the last chance i’m giving this guy.
the sixth sense was a classic. the village was a laughable and predictable joke, unbreakable was plain stupid, signs was pretty good, the lady in the water was only moderately saved by the always brilliant paul giamatti.
i’ll watch this because i’m a marky mark fan. the R-rating makes no difference to me. i guess because i’m older than 17.
i agree with jake, this is the last chance i’m giving m. night shyamalan. if it sucks, i’m writing him off as a flash in the pan.
Poor M. Night. A talented director who paid too much attention to his own hype. Big mistake following SIXTH SENSE with UNBREAKABLE (a great film besides). He might have found better success breaking out of his own mold earlier on, like Bryan Singer did (THE USUAL SUSPECTS –> X-MEN)
The Village was a Scooby Doo cartoon. Signs was great. M and his R will make money.
M night was on Entourage as himself. his most thrilling piece of work. Hopefully his new film will be on par
M. Night needs to stop casting himself in his films and start collaborating with talented screenwriters who can help him to develop his ideas into stronger scripts.
First off, I REALLY liked Lady in the Water! It had the same feel as the Never Ending Story, which, as a child of the eighties, is one of my favorite movies. The Village, not so good (I felt doubly betrayed seeing as how I forced my husband to take me and I couldn’t even halfheartedly say “see, it wasn’t that bad!”) I’m definitely a fan of Mr. S, but I will acknowledge that his name doesn’t always garauntee a winner…fingers crossed for this new one!
ClaudeNorth: You hit the nail right on the head
‘Unbreakable’ is his finest moment. None of his other films have approached it. As unwatchable as ‘Lady in the Water’ was, ‘Signs’ was even worse.
The only annoying tidbit about the Happening’s recent advertisement is the blood red R-rating at the end of the recent commercials. It’s as if M. Night is saying, “Look at me! I’m being edgier now with this big, fat R-rating, stamped across the commericial’s end credits!” It’s as vexing as the super loud movie trailer trying to be scary, though it’s more likely to accomplish deafness for every audience member by the age of 25. Please Shaymalan. The Happening’s premise is striking enough without all the unsubtle gimmicks. No need to overdo it.
To answer the question stated in this article, if the R-rating helps this film flesh out to its greatest potential, go for it. If not, cut the few offending frames for a PG-13 rating for a better turn out.
I loved “The Sixth Sense” and really liked “The Village” and “Signs”. I guess I’m in a minority here. The “R” rating has no effect on whether I want to see a movie or not.
I’m a big Night fan. I didn’t care for Lady in the Water, but I loved Signs and The Village. Unbreakable is my favorite. It’s is so underrated. That ending gives me chills every time. I’ll go see this because I have faith in the man.
M. Night is overrated. I’ve liked his movies so far, but I will admit that they are basically Twighlight Zone episodes. Only super slow. I suspect this will be no different. Now they get to say the F word! Wow!
The movie will do good business anyway because everyone (including myself) is intrigued to see what this is all about. It doesn’t matter that it’s rated R this time, but when this opens big, the studio will pat themselves on the back for ‘marketing it so well.’
Redonculous.
M. Night is way up there with Uwe Boll as the worst directors of all time. I liked 6th Sense, thought Unbreakable was ok, disliked the Signs, hated The Village, and absolutely loathe Lady in the dirty Toilet. I’ll never see his movie again. I’m promoting The Hulk instead. I hope The Happening is not happening on June 13. Hulk, please crush The Happening to pieces.
Am I the only person bothered by the preview for the movie? I think the content (bodies falling, a person laying down in front of moving lawn equipment) isn’t suitable for some of the hours (IE: kids could be watching) that it is being shown. I’m by no means a prude, but I’m not looking forward to explaining that to an 8 and 3 year old before they go to bed at night. I think at least those two instances could’ve been left out and the commercial still could make an impact.
The Village still haunts him apprently
I have a lot of respect for M. Night Shyamalan’s movies – he dares to do things which haven’t been done before. First three movies were amazing, “The Village” was a little flat and could have been so much better – “Lady in the Water” was somewhat watchable but fell flat. It’s not like it was his choice to make the commercials flaunt the R rating the way they are – that’s usually the studio’s choice – still, the movie looks pretty good and I hope people won’t be turned away by a booming commercial voice saying “FROM DIRECTOR M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN COMES HIS FIRST R-RATED FILM”. Give the poor guy a little bit of respect.
why the film is rated R?
only becouse blood and desasters, or becouse have some sexual contents?
pliss answer me!
I loved 6th Sense, first movie to really surprise me. I thouh Unbreakable was incredible. Really liked Signs and The Village. Lady in the Water, a few days after still had me thinking. The Happening I would see in a heartbeat if not for the R rating. What I liked about Shyamalan in the past was no gore, no nudity and no obscene language. It was about mood and planting thoughts to get the mind working. It wasn’t typical Hollywood “We have a stupid audience so make it blatant.”. I’m afraid that is where he tried to go with this with the gore. Disappointed. Will I see it probably but I am not looking forward to it as much.
hr is hulk retard..happening sucks..lady in the water is the bomb..sixth sense is gay..village is brilliant..unbreakable is unique..and signs has the best audio in a movie i think i have ever enjoyed listening to.
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