Split (2016 American film)

Split
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	M. Night Shyamalan
Written by	M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by	M. Night Shyamalan Jason Blum Marc Bienstock
Starring	James McAvoy Anya Taylor-Joy Betty Buckley
Cinematography	Mike Gioulakis
Edited by	Luke Ciarrocchi
Music by	West Dylan Thordson
Production companies	Blinding Edge Pictures Blumhouse Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	September 26, 2016 (2016-09-26) (Fantastic Fest) January 20, 2017 (2017-01-20) (United States)
Running time	118 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million[2][3]
Box office	$278.5 million[3]

Split is a 2016 American psychological thriller film written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The film follows a man with dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility.

Principal photography began on November 11, 2015, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 26, 2016, and was released in the United States on January 20, 2017, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews; critics highly praised McAvoy's performance, and welcomed Shyamalan's direction. Some mental health advocates criticized the film for its stigmatization of mental illness. Split was a commercial success, grossing $278 million worldwide on a budget of $9 million, becoming Blumhouse Productions' highest-grossing film until 2023 when Five Nights at Freddy's overtook it.

Split is a standalone sequel to Shyamalan's 2000 film Unbreakable although not marketed as such, instead saving the revelation for a scene featuring Bruce Willis reprising his Unbreakable role in an uncredited cameo. Commentators dubbed Split the first-ever "stealth sequel", and the first solo supervillain origin film. The 2019 film Glass, which combined the casts and characters of both previous films, concluded Shyamalan's Unbreakable trilogy.