M. Night Shyamalan wanted Dave Bautista for his next film after seeing Blade Runner 2049

Last Updated on January 27, 2022

It was revealed last month that Dave Bautista would be starring in Knock at the Cabin, the next film from M. Night Shyamalan. While some wanted to write Bautista off as a former wrestler, he’s more than proven what he can do with dramatic roles. In fact, it was his brief yet impactful role in Denis Villeneueve’s Blade Runner 2049 that put him on M. Night Shyamalan’s radar.

While speaking with THR, M. Night Shyamalan explained what it was about Dave Bautista’s performance in Blade Runner 2049 that made him want to work with the actor.

I was really taken by what Denis [Villeneuve] and Dave did in that scene in Blade Runner. He was still in a way that was powerful. There’s a type of stillness where you’re not doing nothing; you’re doing everything and you’re still. Your essence of what you’re thinking is coming off your body. I always tell actors that I can definitely shoot the back of you. If you watch the back of Heath Ledger at the beginning of The Dark Knight, the second I saw his back, I thought, “I’m seeing one of the greatest performances ever.” I could see it just from the way he was standing. Every cell in your body will do what it’s supposed to do if you’re thinking something correctly. So don’t just be blank. You have to think it. So don’t show me anything because your body is going to show me.

M. Night Shyamalan continued, “And Dave was embodying all of this philosophy in that scene, and I thought he was a really unusual person because he is who he is and he’s that big. I didn’t know who he was at that time, and he stuck in my head. So when this script came, I was like, ‘There seems to be one guy who can play this giant human being and do the stillness.’ So I asked Dave.” In true Shyamalan fashion, we don’t know all that much about Knock at the Cabin yet, and all he would tell THR was that it was the “fastest script” he’s ever written and “very emotional.“

Dave Bautista was most recently seen as Glossu Rabban in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and will reprise the role for Dune: Part Two. The actor has plenty of projects on the horizon, including playing Drax the Destroyer in Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8, 2022 and in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023. He also wrapped Knives Out 2, the sequel to Rian Johnson’s highly successful whodunit starring Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Bautista also willed a buddy action/comedy with Jason Momoa into existence which was later picked up by MGM. The project is set to be penned by Jonathan Tropper and is based on an original idea from Bautista, Momoa, and Tropper. Knock at the Cabin is already set for a February 3, 2023 release.

Are you ready to see Shyamalan and Dave Bautista team up?