In an awesome turn of events, it appears that the latest thriller from M. Night Shyamalan will not have audiences splitting the difference when it comes to box office results. Puns may rub the wrong way with many people, but Split has certainly rubbed people the right way with the majority of movie-goers now that weekend results have released. According to Box Office Mojo, the film has earned a hair over 40 million dollars and it has also earned a spot amongst the highest grossing films in the month of January. It's the fourth highest grossing film of all time in January as it has now succeeded 2008's Cloverfield.
Blumhouse Productions has a knack for creating cinematic content on relatively cheap budgets and collecting profit consistently when said content is released to the public. Split continues the trend of triumph because supposedly, according to Box Office Mojo, there was a minimal budget of about 10 million dollars. That means that this underdog of a film grossed over 4 times the amount of it's budget in the opening weekend. And the coolest part is that if this success thrives, then the film will stay in theaters for a considerably long duration of time. These stories in concern to the month of January aren't extreme anomalies but it is not common for hits in this industry to arise like Split did. M. Night Shyamalan's newest film could potentially gather much more than 40 million during the rest of it's theater run until February when films like John Wick Chapter 2, The Lego Batman Movie, and Fifty Shades Darker release.
Most importantly, what does this mean for Hollywood and the future of M. Night Shyamalan? Without giving away spoilers firstly, Split proves that there is room for positivity and success when it comes to original filmmaking. Unfortunately, Hollywood seems to shiver when originality is thrown around but unoriginal blockbusters deriving from any property that has any ounce of popularity is encouraged. But Split is another strong punch for the underdogs in the fight for original stories to stay alive. In relation to the career of M. Night Shyamalan, life has to be quite swell and satisfying at this given moment. For years he was ridiculed for a string of films that were not well received in the slightest and his career was seemingly dead when at one point, he was claimed to be the next Steven Spielberg. Now, due to the success of two fun thrillers that work perfectly in his genre wheelhouse, he should deservingly be rewarded with more opportunity. The most interesting thought to ponder is whether he'll use his second chance to continue telling original stories that provoke conversation or try something truly ambitious.
Once again, to explore the ambitious nature of his possible career direction would be spoiling the fun hidden within Split. And being an adoring fan of M. Night as well as his newest flick, I implore everyone to check it out before it's theater run is over. It's a fantastically emotional feeling to be able to say with full conviction, "Welcome back Mr. Shyamalan!"
