In his continued effort to make a comeback, M Night Shyamalan hopes the Duffer Brothers will hire him to direct an episode of Stranger Things next season.
Since Signs — which was 14 years ago, holy cow — M. Night Shyamalan has been in a bit of a movies slump. Recent projects like After Earth and Avatar: The Last Airbender failed to connect with audiences and went down in cinematic history as indisputably bad movies. But he appears to be having better luck now. Fox’s Wayward Pines didn’t crash and burn entirely. Plus, he has the Tales from the Crypt reboot, and the upcoming film from Universal Pictures, Split. If the movie does well in theaters, it could mark Shyamalan’s return to the thriller genre. Otherwise, he may need to find work elsewhere.
And if elsewhere is Stranger Things, no harm there, right?
In an interview with Digital Spy, Shyamalan reminded the world that the creators and directors of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, first worked on his show, Wayward Pines. “They were round my house and I was like, ‘Well, you can hire me back guys!'”
Obviously, both shows follow that “weird things happening in a sleepy town” trope. However, Stranger Things was a runaway hit, something Shyamalan hasn’t enjoyed in quite some time. The desperation seems real at this point.
While Shyamalan tries to get “a bunch of TV shows” off the ground, Stranger Things heads into production of its highly-anticipated second season. As the show dives into darker themes, it falls perfectly in Shyamalan’s wheelhouse. Even though he considers himself more of a drama director:
"“Supernatural thrillers… that’s what I’m known for. [But] I’m a closet drama director. I don’t like anybody to know! When people come to the multiplex and they’re screaming and laughing… that’s not why I made the movie. I made the movie for the drama.”"
Now the drama would be if the Duffer Brothers rejected his offer at this point. That could make things really awkward, though I don’t see that being the case.
Related Story: Stranger Things Will be ‘Bigger and Potentially Darker’ in Season 2
Stranger Things returns this summer, while Split opens in theaters tomorrow.