M Night Shyamalan Says Original Glass Cut Was Over Three Hours

CBR

M Night Shyamalan's Glass Was Originally Over Three Hours Long

By Drew Mollo

Published Dec 13, 2018

M. Night Shyamalan reveals that the original cut of his upcoming superhero sequel, Glass, was once much, much longer than the finished product.

Director M. Night Shyamalan revealed that his upcoming film, Glass, the highly-anticipated sequel to Unbreakable and Split, was originally three hours long.

“The script was really long, it was almost 150 pages and the first cut of the movie was 3 hours and 20 minutes, it was really long,” he told Digital Spy. “Then it started tightening [and] tightening until we got to the 2.08 that you can see.”

Shyamalan realized much of the runtime was the result of setup meant to reintroduce audiences to the dark superhero world he created back in 2000 with Unbreakable, but then realized Glass didn’t need to rehash the movies leading up to the film or their respective beats. As an example, Shyamalan referenced a scene with James McAvoy’s Kevin Crumb and one of his more memorable personalities, Patricia, shown in the trailers.

“All she needs to go is, ‘My name is Patricia’ and you’re there," said Shyamalan. "That’s a much longer scene in the screenplay where you’re reliving the humor and the relationship and the connection to the girls, and even realizing she has multiple personalities.”

Directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, Glass is slated for release on Jan. 18, 2019. The film stars James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb/The Beast, Bruce Willis as David Dunn, Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price/Mr. Glass and Sarah Paulson as Ellie Staple.