Apple Taps M. Night Shyamalan for New Thriller TV Series

Apple has added M. Night Shyamalan to the list of creators working on TV series for its as-yet unknown streaming service, according to a new report.

Variety brings word that Apple has given a straight-to-series order for a half-hour 10-episode psychological thriller series from writer Tony Basgallop, which will be executive produced by Shyamalan. The 47-year-old Indian-American director, known for films such as The Sixth Sense (1999) and Split (2016), will direct the first episode.

This is Shyamalan's second TV project. He also executive produced Wayward Pines, which was cancelled by Fox on Tuesday after a two-season run. Shyamalan is currently busy doing post-production on Glass, a sequel to Split, both of which tie into Unbreakable (2000). He's also known for Signs (2002), and The Village (2004).

As for Basgallop, the British writer is known for writing What Remains (2013) and Inside Men (2012). He wrote more than a dozen EastEnders episodes between 1996 and 2001, created TV series Hotel Babylon in 2006, and has written episodes of 24: Live Another Day, 24: Legacy, and Berlin Station most recently.

Shyamalan’s Blinding Edge Pictures will help produce the untitled Apple thriller series, with Ashwin Rajan serving as executive producer. Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists will also executive produce, with Taylor Latham co-executive producing.

It'll be interesting to see how this fits into Apple's family-friendly programming mandate for its streaming service, which led to Bryan Fuller departing the reboot of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. For now though, Shyamalan joins a growing slate at Apple: a morning show drama from Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon, the aforementioned Amazing Stories reboot, and a space drama from Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore, a futuristic drama See from Hunger Games sequels director, a comedy from Kristen Wiig, a series from La La Land director Damien Chazelle, and the immigrant anthology series from The Big Sick writers.

Photo by Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0