Filmmaker and grasp of suspense M. Night Shyamalan is returning to the large display screen subsequent month together with his concert-set thriller, “Trap,” however the massive twist is “Trap” is about extra than simply no matter twist Shyamalan has cooked up.
The film has been largely hyped for the return of Josh Hartnett as a leading man, particularly in a darkish function that sees him as a serial killer making an attempt to evade a entice laid out for him at a pop live performance. But in a recent interview with Empire, Shyamalan boasts one other big purpose to see “Trap” in theaters is that viewers will likely be getting an precise live performance movie along with his normal thriller fare. In truth, when requested how he pitched the movie, Shyamalan mentioned, “What if ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert?”
While Shyamalan was partially impressed by a real-life sting operation from 1985 performed by U.S. Marshals and DC Metro Police, which noticed over 100 fugitives arrested after coaxing them to a stadium with free NFL tickets, he was additionally drastically influenced by the rising music profession of his daughter Saleka. She began her profession opening for artists like Boyz II Men and Summer Walker, and Saleka’s debut album “Seance” launched in 2022.
Saleka and her father have collaborated beforehand, along with her contributing music to Night’s Apple TV+ series “Servant” and Night directing certainly one of her music movies. But they’ve by no means collaborated on the extent they went for in “Trap,” which sees Saleka as mega-star pop singer Lady Raven.
“I directed an entire concert!” Night mentioned of the expertise. “And it wasn’t just a thing in the background. It’s equally important. There is no pretend concert going on. I love the idea of cinema as windows within windows. One of the reasons to come see the movie at the movie theater is because there’s literally a real concert that you can see nowhere except in that movie.”
More necessary than offering a showcase for his daughter and even making an attempt to capitalize on the re-emerging popularity of the concert film, Night was most excited about crafting a really distinctive expertise.
“I really do believe in the original movie,” Night mentioned to Empire. “I want the industry to move towards more original storytelling. I think audiences would really like it. Look, I know there’s safety in IP. But it’s really important that we come to the movies and see something we’ve never seen before. I’ll keep fighting for that.”
“Trap” opens in theaters August 2. Check out the trailer for the film here.
