With his latest movie, Knock at the Cabin, set for release next month, M. Night Shyamalan is asking fans for one teenie tiny little favor. Really, it’s no big deal at all. Please, don’t watch the movie on your iPad.
In a new interview with SFX, M. Night Shyamalan stated clearly that he wants anybody who wants to see Knock at the Cabin to do so at the cinemas and not by convenience of the at-home experience. “Do I want you watching Knock at the Cabin on a treadmill with your iPad? No, I don’t.” He added that he’s certain that moviegoers want to actually, well, go to the movies. “Let me be super-clear, audiences are dying to come to movie theatres to see great movies…That’s all there is to it. If you released Home Alone today, it would still be a gigantic hit. If you released Back To The Future today, it’d be gigantic.”
While Knock at the Cabin won’t be as big as those movies–and it’s unfair to offer any sort of comparison–M. Night Shyamalan has proven to be a consistent presence at the box office when it comes to horror movies and thrillers. His movies have collectively grossed over $3 billion worldwide, and he’s banking on upping that number next month. Even with an R rating, it’s likely that the director’s most die-hard fans will turn up–although reviews may force the more casual viewers to wait for streaming aka their treadmill.
Still, M. Night Shyamalan firmly believes this won’t be a problem, championing the theatergoing experience. “There’s nothing like it – a bunch of 500 strangers coming together to watch a story together, to not multitask and commit themselves. It’s just a deeper experience.” Of course, a movie is “best” experienced in such a way, but one wonders if Shyamalan’s relationship with Apple TV (Servant is currently in its fourth season) may eventually steer him to release a streaming-only film.
With a cast that includes Dave Bautista, Jonathan Goff and Rupert Grint, Knock at the Cabin has the following plot: “While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.” Knock at the Cabin hits theaters–and not your iPad–on February 3rd.
Are you looking forward to Knock at the Cabin? Will you see it in theaters or wait for its inevitable streaming release? Let us know in the comments section below!