Glass (2019 film)

Glass
Behind a shattered glass stands the three protagonists of the film; on the left is Kevin Wendell Crumb / The Horde, on the right is David Dunn / The Overseer, and in the center is Elijah Price / Mr. Glass.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byM. Night Shyamalan
Written byM. Night Shyamalan
Produced by
  • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Jason Blum
  • Marc Bienstock
  • Ashwin Rajan
Starring
CinematographyMike Gioulakis
Edited by
  • Luke Ciarrocchi
  • Blu Murray
Music byWest Dylan Thordson
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Universal Pictures (United States and Canada)
  • Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (International)[3]
Release dates
Running time
129 minutes[5]
Country
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[6]
Box office$247 million[6]

Glass is a 2019 American superhero thriller film[7] written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a crossover and sequel to Shyamalan's previous films Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) and the third and final installment in the Unbreakable trilogy.[8] Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard reprise their Unbreakable roles, while James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy return as their Split characters,[9] with Sarah Paulson, Adam David Thompson, and Luke Kirby joining the cast. The film sees David Dunn / The Overseer as he and Kevin Wendell Crumb / The Horde are captured and placed in a psychiatric facility with Elijah Price / Mr. Glass, where they contemplate the authenticity of their superhuman powers.

Despite interest in a sequel to Unbreakable, the Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone Pictures opted not to finance a sequel. Shyamalan set out to write Split using a character he had written for Unbreakable but pulled from its script due to balance issues. He realized the opportunity he had to create a trilogy of works, and instead used the ending of Split to establish Glass with the Unbreakable narrative. This necessitated securing the rights to use both Willis' and Jackson's Unbreakable characters from Disney, with the promise of including the studio in the film along with Universal Pictures. Split was a financial and critical success, and by April 2017 Shyamalan announced that he started the production process for Glass.

The film had its world premiere in select Alamo Drafthouse Cinema theaters on January 12, 2019, and was released in the United States on January 18 by Universal Pictures. Glass received mixed reviews from critics, who found the film "disappointing" and "underwhelming" due to the story, particularly the third act, but praised the performances of the cast; many deemed it the weakest in the trilogy.[10][11][12] The film was a financial success, grossing $247 million worldwide against a $20 million production budget.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Glass (2019)". Art of the Title. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  2. ^ a b DeFore, John (January 9, 2019). "'Glass': Film Review". Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  3. ^ McNary, Dave (October 2, 2017). "M. Night Shyamalan-Universal's Unbreakable sequel Glass adds Disney as distributor". Variety. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (January 4, 2019). "Film News Roundup:'M. Night Shyamalanathon' screenings set for Unbreakable, Split, Glass". Film News Roundup. Variety. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  5. ^ Sandwell, Ian (January 12, 2018). "Split and Unbreakable sequel Glass was originally more than three hours long". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Glass (2019)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  7. ^ McCreesh, Louise (September 14, 2017). "Split and Unbreakable sequel Glass IS a "superhero movie", confirms producer Jason Blum – but what does this mean in terms of plot?". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  8. ^ Busch, Caitlin (November 20, 2017). "Samuel L. Jackson has finished the Split sequel, but it's not over yet". Inverse. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  9. ^ Cox, James (April 27, 2018). "Details emerge about the sequel to Split, Glass". Buzz.ie. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  10. ^ Nyren, Erin (January 26, 2019). "Glass to remain at No. 1 with $16 million". Box Office. Variety. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Campbell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Foreman, Alison (January 9, 2019). "Critics slam Glass as a dull and disappointing end to the Unbreakable franchise". Mashable. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2019.