As M. Night Shyamalan fans know too well, the writer/director loves to craft an unexpected ending. He first caught audiences collectively off guard with 1999's The Sixth Sense and has since continued his tradition with Unbreakable, Signs and Split's unexpected connection to the Unbreakable universe. Enter Glass, audiences will certainly go into it waiting for an M. Night Shyamalan signature twist. Per Samuel L. Jackson, the ending moviegoers will see this weekend wasn't the original conclusion. In his words:
There was a different ending when we first started this that kind of needed to be changed because of the way society is and what's going on in the world and what it would have looked like.
Interesting! For the trilogy closer that has been 19 years in the making, one might expect M. Night Shyamalan had the perfect ending crafted in his head for quite some time. However, per Samuel L. Jackson's words to Digital Spy, the twist mastermind decided to switch up the conclusion of Glass to better reflect what's going on in the world.
At this point, it's unclear exactly what Samuel L. Jackson is referring to -- there are a multitude of things happening in the world right now. Is it a political message? One concerning mental health or a commentary about the rampant superhero genre dominating Hollywood films today? As of now, it's up to the viewer to decide.
Glass opened in theaters last night and earned $3.7 million, marking the biggest preview night for a M. Night Shyamalan movie to date. It's set to be the start of an impressive first weekend for Glass, as tracking imagines it will make $60 million domestically and break $100 million worldwide.
So, in favor of not spoiling the surprise, Samuel L. Jackson or M. Night Shyamalan likely won't comment on what exactly the ending was changed from and the intention behind it until enough people have experienced it for themselves.
Glass is the culmination of two of M. Night Shyamalan's most successful hits, 2000's Unbreakable and 2016's Split. The writer/director has had the comic book-themed trilogy on his mind since he was developing Unbreakable, and Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis have been waiting for the call (and bugging Shyamalan) about the chance to return to their characters, Mr. Glass and David Dunn, this whole time.
While Shyamalan has had a public downfall with the release of critical and commercial failures such as Lady in the Water and After Earth, he made a comeback with the stunning success of Split, which made over $278 million worldwide.
Glass will continue the stories set up in Unbreakable and Split and wrap up the franchise. Thus far, the conclusion has held some mixed acclaim from those who have seen it. You can see Glass in theaters now and come back to discuss the ending with us.
