M Night Shyamalan's 'Glass' first poster teases titanic showdown
The release of M.Night Shyamalan's psychological horror venture 'Split' in 2016 delivered on a long-standing promise from the director — that his cult-hit 2000 'Unbreakable' would receive a sequel. Not even the most ardent fan (or even Samuel Jackson for that matter) saw the twist coming, with Bruce Willis' brief appearance at the film's ending tying the two universes together and setting up a thrilling conclusion with a third and final movie, 'Glass.'
The first poster for the movie has fans understandably excited, setting up the ultimate showdown between the franchise's three leading characters. 'Glass' will see Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard will reprise their roles from 'Unbreakable,' with James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy also returning as their 'Split Characters.'
Described aptly by one fan as 'Shyamalan's Infinity War,' the poster features each of Willis, McAvoy, and Jackson represented in their timid, broken versions. Jackson's Elijah Prince, who is born with a Type I osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare disease that renders the patient's bones extremely fragile and prone to fracture, is visible on the far left. On the far right is Willis' David Dunn, a security guard who, after miraculously surviving a catastrophic train crash, finds out that he possesses superhuman abilities and is quite unbreakable. In the middle is McAvoy's Kevin Crumb, a man suffering from disassociative identity disorder who exhibits 23 different personalities.
The poster has a lot of things going for it, with the keen attention to detail — except for a mismatch for when it comes to the actors' names with respect to their positioning — right down to how the reflection of their feet aligns quite magnificent. The fact that Dunn is shackled to the ground, despite the doctors' disbelief at his proclamation of his powers, is another nice touch.
Each of the three characters' so-called alter-ego was in full display as well, with fans praising how Dunn was portrayed in his iconic raincoat and equally appreciating McAvoy's visibly shredded pectorals and abs. But the most noticeable aspect is how all three of them appear to be confined to the same facility/institution. Exactly what sequence of events led to such a catastrophic lining of the stars and cue the titanic face-off between Dunn and Crumb is something we'll have to wait to find out.
'Unbreakable' was the first in the so-called 'Eastrail 177 Trilogy', with follow-up 'Split' more akin to a 'backdoor sequel' and filmed substantially as a standalone film. Made on a relatively paltry budget of just $9 million, it collected $40 million on its opening weekend and went on to earn $278 million worldwide. It was Shyamalan's most successful venture in close to 20 years.
The trilogy is set to conclude with 'Glass,' for which the first trailer is expected to drop on July 20th during the day's SDCC panel. The movie is scheduled to be released on January 18, 2019, by Universal Pictures in North America and by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under the Buena Vista International banner in international territories.