GERMANY: Shyamalan delivers visceral frights in his first R-rated movie "The Happening."

Record ID: 640992

  • Title: GERMANY: Shyamalan delivers visceral frights in his first R-rated movie "The Happening."
  • Date: 11th June 2008
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (RECENT) (REUTERS-ACCESS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK WAHLBERG, ACTOR, SAYING "I remember seeing the movie for the first time, I remember after shooting the movie being in Central Park for the first time, it was a grey and windy day with a storm about to break. And then I took people to see the movie for the first time after, and nobody knew what to expect
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2008 13:00
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  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVAG4EXJ49EKGJT8A1M7WK929N7
  • Story Text: If there is one thing director M. Night Shyamalan enjoys, it is spooking audiences with his supernatural movies, and he promises his June release, "The Happening," will be the scariest ride yet.

    "I guess I always thought of myself as the PG-13 guy"
    Shyamalan told Reuters. "And when I wrote this screenplay and Fox read it they were like, you have to make it "R" and I was like, what? And I looked at it and there was just no way we could make this any other way", he added.

    "The Happening" stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel as a couple caught in what initially seems to be a terrorist attack as an airborne toxin is released in and around Philadelphia, threatening the human population.
    It is the first film from the writer and director of smash hits such as "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs" that is aimed mostly at adult audiences, which Shyamalan said meant he could make it more intense and frightening. "It was scary how easily it came to me, how much fun we had doing it", he said.

    "There were so many times I had to look away from the screen, actually" Mark Wahlberg told Reuters. "After seeing the movie, I ran over to Night and choked him because he put me through such a crazy ride. And I was in 95 per cent of the film. So, knowing these things were coming up and still being that affected by it... He is a very powerful filmmaker", added Wahlberg.
    In the United States, "The Happening" will carry an "R" rating, which means only people 17 or older will be able to attend, unless supervised by a parent, and the film opens on Friday, the 13th of June.

    "I said to everyone: We're making the best B-movie anyone has ever seen. That's our goal. We're making a B-Movie, and we're going to have fun and enjoy it and just do it on a high, high level" Shyamalan said.
    In the first few minutes, for instance, two women are sitting on a bench talking normally to each other as the dialogue gets increasingly strange. Then, as one turns to the other, she sees her friend in a horrific act -- so scary, Shyamalan said, he does not want to give away all the details.
    Shyamalan said the fear that audiences feel comes from trying to figure out exactly what the toxin is and where it will show up and never getting clear answers.
    With his unique brand of supernatural thriller, Shyamalan has mostly enjoyed a Midas touch at box offices.

    "The Sixth Sense," which told of a boy who sees dead people, raked in 672 million U.S. dollars worldwide. "Signs," about an alien invasion of Earth, scored more than 400 million USD, and "The Village," which tells of an isolated group of people in a creature-filled forest, took in more than 250 million USD. Despite the box-office "scary" label, Shyamalan sees himself as an average guy: "I'm really boring", he said. "I am an intensely not interesting guy.
    Very predictable, I like to do the same things. So when I sit down to write, it's almost like an Alter Ego a bit…There's nothing very sinister or dark about me. You sit down and write, all this other side of you comes out, your Id comes out" Shyamalan describes his talent.
    His only real stumble was 2006's "Lady in the Water," which was panned by critics, failed to excite audiences and took in only 72 million USD at box offices around the world.
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