Filming has now wrapped on director M Night Shyamalan’s next twisted outing,Old. While most movie and television productions around the world have had to shut down due to the ongoing global situation, Shyamalan was able to shootOldin the Dominican Republic thanks to new health and safety protocols, with the filmmaker confirming that he is headed back to his hometown having completed filming.
“Wrapped production on [Old]. It was an incredible experience. Beyond grateful to the people of the Dominican Republic who were so caring & welcoming. It is one of the most beautiful countries filled with the sweetest people. Thinking of you as I head back to Philly.”
Oldis inspired by theFrench graphic novel Sandcastleby Pierre Oscar Levy and artist Frederik Peeters. An insider previously revealed that theUnbreakabledirector received a copy ofSandcastlefor Father’s Day and was instantly enamoured with the premise. Quickly purchasing the rights to the graphic novel, the storyline is said to have inspired the script for his upcoming feature.
The plot for old therefore will follow that ofSandcastlewhich centers on a group of people on a perfect beach day… or so they thought. The group is made up of a family, a young couple, a few tourists, and a refugee who all end up in the same secluded, idyllic cove filled with rock pools and sandy shore, encircled by green, densely vegetated cliffs. But this utopia hides a dark secret. First there is the dead body of a woman found floating in the crystal-clear water. Then there is the odd fact that all the children are aging rapidly. Sooneverybody is growing olderevery half hour and there doesn’t seem to be any way out of the cove.
Oldfeatures an all-star ensemble cast led byCocoandThe Motorcycle Diariesstar Gael García Bernal. Bernal will star alongside the likes ofHereditaryandJumanji: Welcome to the Junglestar Alex Wolff,Little WomenandSharp Objectsstar Eliza Scanlen,Jojo RabbitandThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’Thomasin McKenzie,Kryptonstar Aaron Pierre,Mad Max: Fury RoadandThe Neon Demonactress Abbey Lee,Jupiter Ascendingstar Nikki Amuka-Bird,Lost’sKen Leung, and Vicky Krieps from Paul Thomas Anderson’sPhantom Thread.
Oldis just the first part ofM. Night Shyamalan’s new two-movie dealwith Universal Pictures, with another as-yet-untitled project currently slated for a February 2023 release date. Shyamalan has discussed the deal in the past, suggesting that all the movies could perhaps be linked in some way. “I just had two movie ideas I felt very strongly about,” Shyamalan said. “For me, there are ideas and they’re in journals sometimes and they don’t quite have the meat yet or whatever that thing is that makes it so I’m ready to commit two years of my life to making this-to writing and directing this-some of those ideas don’t have that yet. They have to gestate a little bit. But there were two ideas where right away I was thinking about making them. And, interesting enough, there might be a third thing that came to me that might end up going in between these two. So there might be three.”
Based on the marketing material so far,Oldlooks to be the kind of existential horror story that audiences expect ofM. Night Shyamalan, who can see all the inevitable twists and turns for themselves when the movie hits theaters on July 21, 2025. This comes to us courtesy ofM Night Shyamalan’s official Twitter account.
