MOVIE NEWS – After Split, M. Night Shyamalan‘s new thriller was a huge box office success this past weekend, fans are still chatting about the film‘s surprising end. Since it had $40 million debuts, it is already a big hit for both Universal and Blumhouse, since it had only a mere $5 million to make, which will perhaps finally make happen a follow-up, which movie fans have been waiting more than 15 years to see. If you still haven’t seen Split, there are be HUGE SPOILERS below, so be warned.

Same as the majority of M. Night Shyamalan‘s movies, the events of Split are set in the director’s hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And it was an absolute surprise for the fans that at the end of the movie it was revealed that this story is set in the same universe as Shyamalan‘s 2000 hit film Unbreakable.

SPOILER

This scene in question occurs just before end credits, set in a Philadelphia diner where there is a news report playing about James McAvoy‘s Kevin, who is using the nickname “The Horde,” since he acts host to 24 different personalities. A woman in the diner remembers another strange criminal with a name she already forgot. Then suddenly see Bruce Willis reprising his Unbreakable role as David Dunn, telling the woman she’s thinking of Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson).

While it could have been just a cameo, it seems, that it was done on purpose. M. Night Shyamalan has since explained that he is planning to do a true Unbreakable sequel as his next movie if it works out. When asked by MTV if Unbreakable two will happen soon, he says this.

“I think so. I think it’s the next thing. I do have another idea that has nothing to do with this…Something I’m excited about as well.”

During this very interview that took place on an MTV podcast, the director also spoke more about his Unbreakable follow-up, teasing that it has to stand on its own like the first two movies. And he offers cast and story details.

“All I can say is this. If Unbreakable was… take the comic book thing away. If the movie is about a guy who’s the only person who survives a train wreck, everyone else dies, and he’s the only person who survives, and he doesn’t have a scratch on him. How is that possible? That’s our high concept. A really cool story. And then this one, it’s ‘Three girls get abducted by a person that has this disorder. He believes he’s many people. And all of the many different personalities are saying that there’s another personality coming to get them. It’s called The Beast.’ That’s a really cool concept. This third movie needs to have its own idea. The high concept of that final movie can’t be, ‘It’s the final Unbreakable.’ There has to be something about it that makes it its own movie. These two [Split and Unbreakable] are their own movies. That’s when I’ll be happiest. When [the last one] is its own movie. In a way, I can say that it just can be watched by itself,” told the director.

You can read our Split review here.