Samuel L. Jackson Confirms Glass Filming Start Date

Samuel L. Jackson reveals he will start filming Glass, the followup to M. Night Shyamalan’s hit thriller Split, in September. Released back in January of this year, Split got 2017 in film off to an excellent start, buoyed by a chilling performance from James McAvoy playing a man with an extreme case of dissociative identity disorder. On its own merits, Split was a captivating and compelling work by Shyamalan, but its final moments made it something even bigger than just a comeback vehicle. The last scene revealed that Split is set in the same universe as 2000’s Unbreakable, Shyamalan’s fan-favorite superhero drama starring Bruce Willis and Jackson. For the last 17 years, a sequel to that movie has been in high demand.

With Split proving to be a success ($276.9 million worldwide on a $9 million budget), Shyamalan will finally get a chance to reacquaint viewers with David Dunn (Willis) and Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass (Jackson). The filmmaker has been hard at work on the script, progressing nicely as the project was locked in for a 2019 release date. He apparently has all the pieces in place, since the plan is for Glass to start production in the very near future.

In an interview with Collider to promote the action/comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Jackson was asked about Glass. The actor confirmed a start date for principal photography, mentioning cameras will be rolling come September:

“We start rehearsal on [September] 18th and I start shooting on the 25th.”

This schedule means that Glass is being put on the very fast track, quickly coming into fruition following Split‘s theatrical run. Shortly after Split opened, Shyamalan mentioned he had a “robust outline” for a sequel, so this is a story he’s had in mind for a while. Since that time, the writer/director has dedicated a majority of his time to penning the Glass screenplay, offering periodic updates over the past few months. Normally, it isn’t good when films are rushed through the pipeline, but given how long an Unbreakable sequel has been gestating, fans will be happy to see it hit the big screen sooner rather than later.

With production starting in a little over a month (as of this writing), viewers should expect to hear about casting updates to fill out the various supporting roles. In July, Golden Globe winner Sarah Paulson came on board, joining Willis, Jackson, McAvoy, and Split star Anya Taylor-Joy. It will be interesting to see who else joins the project, especially since it’ll be one of the more in-demand titles on the horizon.

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Split 2 Will Get a Bigger Budget

The M. Night Shyamalan-driven sequel to the filmmaker’s hit Split won’t be quite as low-budgeted as its predecessor was. Audiences applauded Shyamalan’s triumphant return to quality films with Split, after a slew of mediocre outings like The Happening and The Last Airbender. Critics praised not only the acting from the likes of James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, but the twist ending which set up a larger “Shyamalaniverse”. This was all the impressive, given the movie was made on a production budget of just $9 million.

Considering that Split went home with a sizable $275 million worldwide in theaters, there is certainly some room to maneuver with the budget of Shyamalan’s officially-announced followup. Of course, some of that will go to cover the hefty acting talent that is joining the cause in Split 2 – a film that is officially titled Glass.

In anticipation of the sequel, Collider spoke to Split‘s co- producer Jason Blum on how Glass will have a bigger budget and an even bigger ambition:

“The budget is more traditional, still by Hollywood standards a very low budget, but it is not $5 million.”

The closing moments of Split feature a last-minute cameo from Bruce Willis, reprising his role as David Dunn from Shyamalan’s 2000 supernatural thriller Unbreakable. There was also a nod to Samuel L. Jackson’s character of Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass, who ultimately served as the de facto villain of Unbreakable. It has since been confirmed that both Hollywood A-listers will be reprising those roles in Glass.

Jackson has already teased his involvement with Glass before the project and its title were officially confirmed to be moving forward. The Split/Unbreakable sequel will thus continue a story that Shymalan first set in motion, nearly two decades ago. Heralded as one of the most underrated superhero films out there, many having been hoping that Unbreakable would get a followup since it was first released. Similar to what 2016’s Blair Witch did with its 1999 predecessor, Split‘s reveal that it is connected to Unbreakable was presented as a surprise.

After waiting for 17 years to see more of the indestructible Dunn, Blum also told Collider that everything seems on track for when we will see him again, and that production on Glass could start as soon as this year:

“We hope so, I hope so. We have a release date in January of 2019, so we have to start shooting pretty soon.”

With Jackson and Willis known for their high-profile roles, and with Joy reported to be circling Josh Boone’s New Mutants, getting the three together could present a logistical challenge. Clearly, Blum and the other producers behind Glass feel that they can handle the task and bring Casey, David, Elijah and Kevin/”The Horde” together for Shyamalan’s next chapter in his own original, comic book-inspired franchise.

Source: Screenrant.com