"The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" star Bruce Willis is eyeing a reunion with writer-director M. Night Shyamalan.
Willis, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Cooper are "loosely attached" to star in an untitled Shyamalan project that has been circulating around town, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
No details are known about the project, but top studio execs have read the screenplay under the direct supervision of one of Shyamalan's assistants, who then took the script and left once they finished reading. As outlined in Michael Bamberger's excellent book "The Man Who Heard Voices," the secretive screenwriter has instituted the process for previous script sales.
Shyamalan is coming off of two flops -- "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening" -- and his latest film, Paramount's big-budget fantasy epic "The Last Airbender," has been tracking poorly, but evidently that hasn't prevented the gifted filmmaker from attracting top talent like Cooper ("The Hangover") and Oscar winner Paltrow ("Iron Man 2").
While I hated both "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening," I still believe that Shyamalan is a creative genius and a one-of-a-kind talent who is unlike any other filmmaker currently working in Hollywood. While he and Willis have both struggled since "Unbreakable," a reunion could be just what the duo need to get their careers back on track.
"Last Airbender" is the first movie Shyamalan has directed that isn't based on his original material, and it's also his first attempt at starting an effects-driven franchise. The movie opens on July 1 and will have to compete with Fox's "Knight and Day," Sony's "Grown Ups" and Summit's "Twilight: Eclipse," plus Universal's upcoming animated feature "Despicable Me" and Disney's effects-heavy "The Sorceror's Apprentice."
Stay tuned to Deal Central for more about this project as Hollywood prepares for what will no doubt be a heated bidding war.
