Earlier this year, M. Night Shyamalan went into production on Trap, a psychological thriller that is “set at a concert” and is going to be released by Warner Bros. The production must have gone very well, because Hollywood North Buzz reports that another Shyamalan project called Good Grades has secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim agreement that will allow it to start filming even while the SAG strike continues. Not wasting any time, Good Grades is expected to begin filming in Mississauga, Ontario next month.
What is Good Grades? Well, the truth is that we have absolutely no idea. All we know about this movie is the title.
While we wait to learn more about the new Shyamalan project, an interview he did with NME has been brought to our attention. The filmmaker said, “I have a new idea that I’ve started writing. It’s out in 2024 and it’s very, very exciting. It’s a thriller. It’s very unusual and very new compared to what I’ve been trying to do [recently], but I’m feeling very excited about the story, so much so that I can’t wait to tell it to you guys. I love that feeling, that electricity of ‘wow, I can’t wait for you to see it’. I will say this, the angle into the story is why it’s so exciting. The story might be something that you’ve seen before but the angle is very, very unique – the point of view.“
We don’t know if he was talking about Trap there, or about Good Grades.
It’s kind of surprising to see Shyamalan going into production on Good Grades so soon after filming Trap, but he did recently tell Collider that he already knew what his next three movies were going to be, with Trap being the first of the three. He said, “I have three movie ideas. I even have the structure of all three to some extent. And so it’s a very weird and interesting situation I’m feeling. I wish I could tell them faster. I wish I could get there faster, but there is no shortcut. I have to spend the six to nine months to write it. I have to storyboard for three months, and then we have pre-production, and then shooting it, and edit for as long as I can get every single second.” When asked if it might take six years for him to get all three movies out into the world, he said he’s hoping to move faster than that. Filming Trap and Good Grades back-to-back and not letting the industry strikes get in the way shows that he’s moving to get these films out into the world as quickly as possible.
Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana was also able to get a SAG Interim deal for her feature directorial debut, the gothic fairy tale The Watchers. That film is set up at Warner Bros. as well and has a June 7, 2024 theatrical release date.
Are you glad to hear that Shyamalan is going directly from making Trap to making Good Grades? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.