M. Night Shyamalan has worked out a sequel to one of his most famous twist endings
M. Night Shyamalan has outlined how he’d continue one of his most talked-about twist endings, sketching a sequel that slots neatly within the story he already wrote.
Look, whatever you think of M. Night Shyamalan (and opinions tend to swing rather wildly there), nobody can accuse him of shying away from a twist. Now and then, someone corners him about the fate of his most controversial film endings—usually in a tone that suggests a sequel would be nothing short of disaster, popcorn in hand. This time, he gave a rare bit of candour about what might come after the final curtain of one of his infamously divisive turns: The Village.
The Village: What Happens Next?
The set-up, if you’ve scrubbed it from memory: an isolated settlement living like it's the 19th century, but really it's the modern day, thanks to a group of adults running a long-term social experiment. The big reveal is always a conversation starter (or ender, depending on your patience). But what if the truth actually got out? In a chat with Steve Weintraub at Collider, Shyamalan let slip how reality would probably catch up on the village folk—especially in a world where every other teenager has a drone and a TikTok account. Basically, forget keeping secrets once the outside world comes knocking.
He confessed he hadn’t accounted for every bit of future tech when writing the original (hardly his fault—who saw drones coming in the early 2000s?), and now sees the village's days as numbered.
Here’s how he put it in the interview:
I mean, I didn’t know any of this stuff was going to happen when I wrote it. There are teenagers with drones going, ‘There are people in there!’ It would be hard to maintain it, so I would imagine in a future, whether it’s five years or 10 years or 20 years, it would be infiltrated by the real world, and then they would have woken up anyway.
It's almost comforting to know that even Shyamalan thinks the story couldn’t hold up once the WiFi signal got strong enough.
What’s Next for Shyamalan?
Somehow, Shyamalan seems busier than ever. He’s already got a new film, Remain, on the books for 5 February 2027. This one’s co-conceived with—wait for it—Nicholas Sparks (yes, “bring your tissues” Nicholas Sparks), who actually published a novel version of the story back in 2025. Shyamalan handled the screenplay for the movie.
The cast is the sort of oddball all-star ensemble you get when a filmmaker’s had a long lunch with his contacts list: Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Gosling top the bill, joined by Phoebe Dynevor, Ashley Walters, Julie Hagerty, Jay O. Sanders, Tracy Ifeachor, Hannah James, Caleb Ruminer, Kieran Mulcare, and Maria Dizzia. Yes, Shyamalan himself sneaks in for a cameo (he can’t help himself, can he?).
Remain opens 5 February 2027 with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Gosling leading the cast.
Production-wise, Shyamalan’s got his regular associates—Ashwin Rajan, Theresa Park, and Marc Bienstock—backing him up. The plot revolves around Tate Gordon, an architect trying to pick up the pieces after depression and grief over his sister’s death. He takes on a new building project courtesy of a friend, clearly hoping changing the scenery will change his fortunes.