Unbreakable (film)

For the series of which this is the first film, see Unbreakable (film series).

Unbreakable
Movie poster showing the head of a man on the top right looking to the left. At the center of the image is the same man wearing a raincoat, as the film's title overlaps him. At the bottom of the image is the head of another man looking to the right. Cracks are shown across the image. Text at the top and bottom of the image lists the starring roles, the credits, and the tagline.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byM. Night Shyamalan
Written byM. Night Shyamalan
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEduardo Serra
Edited byDylan Tichenor
Music byJames Newton Howard
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates
  • November 3, 2000 (2000-11-03) (New York City)
  • November 22, 2000 (2000-11-22) (United States)
Running time
106 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75 million[1]
Box office$248.1 million[1]

Unbreakable is a 2000 American superhero thriller film written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robin Wright. It is the first installment in the Unbreakable film series. In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Willis) survives a train crash with no injuries, leading to the realization that he harbors superhuman abilities. As he begins to grapple with this discovery, he comes to the attention of disabled comic book store owner Elijah Price (Jackson), who manipulates David to understand him.

Shyamalan organized the narrative of Unbreakable to parallel a comic book's traditional three-part story structure. After settling on the origin story, Shyamalan wrote the screenplay as a speculative screenplay with Willis already set to star in the film and Jackson in mind to portray Elijah Price. Filming began in April 2000 and was completed in July.

Unbreakable was released on November 22, 2000. It received generally positive reviews,[2] with praise for Shyamalan's direction, screenplay, its aesthetics, the performances, the emotional weight of the story, cinematography, and the score by James Newton Howard. The film has subsequently gained a strong cult following.[3] A realistic vision of the superhero genre,[4] it is regarded by many as one of Shyamalan's best films and one of the best superhero films. In 2011, Time listed it as one of the top ten superhero films of all time, ranking it number four.[5] Quentin Tarantino also included it on his list of the top 20 films released from 1992 to 2009.[6]

After years of development on a follow-up film, a thematic sequel, Split, with Willis reprising his role as David Dunn in a cameo role, was released in January 2017. After the financial and critical success of Split, Shyamalan immediately began working on a third film, titled Glass, which was released January 18, 2019,[7] thus making Unbreakable the first installment in the Unbreakable film series.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ a b c "Unbreakable". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference metacritic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Unbreakable – An Oral History". Entertainment Weekly. July 10, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference hollywoodreporter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cruz, Gilbert (June 3, 2011). "Top 10 Superhero Movies: 4. Unbreakable (2000)". Time. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference spike was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The Unbreakable And Split Crossover Movie Reveals Official Title And Four Stars". CINEMABLEND. April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  8. ^ Cox, James (April 27, 2018). "Details emerge about the sequel to Split, 'Glass'". Buzz.ie. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  9. ^ Busch, Caitlin (November 20, 2017). "Samuel L. Jackson Has Finished the 'Split' Sequel, But It's Not Over Yet". Inverse.com.
  10. ^ Flint, Hanna (June 12, 2018). "Toni Collette wont be popping up in M Night Shyalamans Glass Movie Exclusive". Yahoo Movies UK.