When M. Night Shyamalan shocked Universal execs with the ending of Split

M. Night Shyamalan is no stranger to surprises, having delivered more than a few twist endings over the course of his decades-long directorial career.

Apparently, Shyamalan’s penchant for surprises extends beyond viewers and to film studios as well. Speaking on the ReelBlend podcast about his new movie Old, the director recalled the time he shocked Universal Pictures with his ending to 2016’s Split. As it turns out, the movie originally wasn’t supposed to tie into Shyamalan’s 2000 hit Unbreakable. Shyamalan used unusual channels to get the films to connect, which eventually led to 2019’s Glass.

At the very end of Split, after the main story involving James McAvoy’s superhuman character, we cut to a diner where Bruce Willis’ character from Unbreakable, David Dunn, is eating. It was a Shyamalan shared universe the whole time!

The problem was that Unbreakable belonged to another studio, so Shyamalan got their permission on his own and shot the scene that would blend the films without Universal knowing. Naturally, the execs were surprised. “I go to the Universal Studios chairman, marketing team, everyone’s in the theater,” Shyamalan recalled. “We pull down the lights, and we play them Split. They don’t know the ending that they’re watching. They didn’t even know I shot it because I didn’t even send them the dailies.”

"They look at me, and they’re like, ‘What are you saying? That’s a Disney movie!’ And I go, ‘It’s all good. We have the permission to do it!’ Can you imagine? You are the chairman of the studio, and the guy shows you that it’s a sequel to a movie from another studio?"

M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis weren’t sure they’d use the final scene of Split

Although Shyamalan was able to keep his plans under wraps from Universal Pictures, the director needed to convince Bruce Willis to return for Split‘s final scene — despite not knowing if it would make it into the movie.

From the sound of it, Willis was happy to reprise the role, even if a sequel hadn’t been greenlit at that point. Shyamalan recounted their discussion:

"When I wrote that movie, I didn’t put the end scene on. I handed it to the studio without that end scene on. We shot it without that end scene on. We previewed it without that end scene on. And then the best part was, I said, ‘Let’s just go for it.’ Lemme call Bruce and say, ‘Hey dude, would you just come to Philly for three hours and shoot this thing for me?’ And he was like, ‘Why? What?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I did this movie, and it’s kind of in the Unbreakable world. I don’t know if we’ll ever shoot a sequel. Do you just want to just come for three hours, bro?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll come.’"

It’s a good thing Willis was open to the idea, since Shyamalan’s surprise worked out in the long run. Both Willis and Samuel L. Jackson returned for Glass, officially turning the director’s story into a trilogy. If Split feels like an odd segue between the two films, however, it’s probably because it wasn’t originally supposed to be a sequel. It’s thanks to Shyamalan’s clever approach that Unbreakable got its own universe — and two follow-up films set in it.

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