He went on to do just that -- to the point where, today, he remains one of the very few directors who can, and routinely does, open a film on the strength of his name alone.
His self-assurance is reflected, too, in the way he re-writes the rules to suit himself -- for instance, while his peers base themselves in Hollywood, he has located his Blinding Edge Pictures production company in hometown Philadelphia, and locates large chunks of his movies on sets that are at best a 90 minute drive away from home.
He has shied away from the temptation to cement his A-list standing by going the tent-pole route, turning down offers to direct a Harry Potter franchise, as also one for the Narnia series. He has also, famously, turned down an offer from Stephen Spielberg to write the revival of the Indiana Jones franchise. That film, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Cyrstal Skull, will open May 22, less than a month ahead of Night's own The Happening, which is slated for a Friday the 13th opening in June.
For all the criticism that has greeted his work -- one waggish reviewer writing of The Village headlined his take 'Village Idiot'; every conceivable variant on the drowning theme has been used in reviews of the ill-fated Lady In The Water -- Night has stuck to the voice he found with The Sixth Sense, after two early flops. [Failing early and badly, he told the media during the interaction the other day, is a good thing: you lose the fear of failure, and can assess what needs to be improved on, what needs to be fixed.]
And where the biggest of directors tend to make tent-pole films for their respective studios, he continues to make the films he wants to, and get studios to let him speak in his own voice.
Adrien Brody and Joaquin Phoenix in The Village.
Also See: Shyamalan's take on Indian Cinema
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