As Shyamalan-produced Devil approaches theaters, there is now the announcement that the second film in the Night Chronicles trilogy (of which Devil is the first) will be Reincarnate, about a supernaturally touched jury attempting to decide on a murder case. The film will be directed by Daniel Stamm, who recently released his Eli Roth-guided The Last Exorcism. Reincarnate will be written by Chris Sparling, writer of the claustrophobic thriller Buried. Considering the precedent set by Devil is one of action confined to a single space, the choice of Sparling for scripting duties suggests that Reincarnate may follow this pattern of the focus being on a specific location. I’ve yet to see The Last Exorcism, but Nick certainly enjoyed it, and Stamm certainly seems to have an eye for making a spooky supernatural film, and bringing out the personality of an environment.

This means it’s Shyamalan himself, the very guy who engineered the concept and has his name all over the films, whose name raises questions. An ultimately worthless anecdote to be sure, but at the five times I’ve seen a Devil trailer in a public theater, there’s been audible laughter or groans at 4 of them. From what I’ve heard from other frequent movie-goers, this isn’t an isolated incident. That has nothing to do with the ultimate quality of Devil, which remains to be seen, but it does make me wonder if M. Night’s name is going to help or hinder this trilogy of films. The proof will be in the ticket sales however, and considering there is no 3D bump or adaptation baggage to inflate the gross, we will have a pretty good idea what Shyamalan’s name is worth (to the financiers anyway) after the next few weekends.

Source | Deadline