Crop circles, family values, and an unlikely inspiration led M. Night
Shyamalan to leave his mark on the film industry.
In the days before he began portraying Bruce Banner in the MCU, Mark Ruffalo was a go-to
character actor in indie dramas and other low-budget challenging projects. However, even
before he took on the part of an enormous green rage monster known as the Hulk, Ruffalo wasn't
opposed to appearing in larger-scale features. After all, he had supporting roles in major genre
movies like "Shutter Island" and "Collateral." However, these forays into blockbuster territory
could have also included taking on the important part of Merrill Hess in "Signs."
Ruffalo had signed on to portray the role in the sci-fi thriller, and one wonders what kind
of performance he would have delivered working with Shyamalan. However, this promising actor
and filmmaker pairing was simply not meant to be. Tragedy struck the feature just before shooting
began when Ruffalo had to undergo an operation to remove a cyst in his ear. While this procedure
went off without a hitch, it did ensure that the actor would be stuck recovering before production
began on "Signs." Because of this, Ruffalo had to drop out of the project. It was a setback for the
motion picture, though not a fatal one, as "Signs" was eventually able to secure Joaquin Phoenix to
fill the role instead. While the character of Merrill Hess still ended up being portrayed by an
acclaimed dramatic performer, it wasn't the actor Shyamalan originally had in mind for the part.
Crop circles and the alien-based conspiracy theories surrounding them have been around for
ages. For some filmmakers, the longstanding nature of this phenomenon might have turned them off from
making this concept the center of a movie. After all, if mysterious crop circles have been around
for so long, what else can you say about them? But speaking to Blackfilm, Shyamalan noted that the
universality of crop circles was the exact reason he wanted to make a movie about them in "Signs."
The fact that this whole concept was something that everyone around the world was aware of made
it seem like a great element to build an entire globally appealing thriller around.
At one point Shyamalan even considered opening "Signs" in a manner that would have reminded
audiences of just how omnipresent the crop circle phenomenon is. This opening sequence
would have depicted a family in an unspecified location in India going outside and discovering
a crop circle. During this sequence, the father of the family would suddenly become Mel Gibson,
and the audience would be thrust into Philadelphia, where the same bizarre
occurrence was happening. Creating visual parallels between two unconnected families
would have shown how widespread the crop circles had become. While this sequence went unrealized,
it did epitomize the universality of crop circles that drew Shyamalan to them in the first place.
"You see, it was strange finding the crops that way."
M. Night Shyamalan's fascination with "Signs" leading man Mel Gibson stretched back to way
before they ever started collaborating on this sci-fi thriller. In a UPI interview,
Shyamalan recalled a fond memory of being transfixed by Gibson's performance the first
time he watched "Lethal Weapon." Contrary to his expectations of what an action movie
performance could be, Shyamalan was blown away by the emotional nuance
and authenticity Gibson brought to the role. This was not the wooden leading
man turn Shyamalan expected from the genre; this was something special.
As he told UPI:
"This guy did stuff emotionally that had no business being in an action movie. I
completely believed the humanity of a man who was so torn up about losing his wife
that he wasn't afraid of dying, which made him a lethal weapon, and those steps were profound."
While Shyamalan was floored by Gibson in his younger years, the actor got to feel the same
way about the director once he got a chance to read the screenplay for "Signs." Speaking to BBC,
Gibson remarked that he often looked for a handful of important things in
potential acting projects. As soon as he realized that "Signs" ticked the boxes
for everything he was looking for, he quickly signed on to the project without hesitation.
In an interview with UPI, M. Night Shyamalan revealed that even though
faith is often a prominent part of his movies,
he's not a traditionally religious person. Rather than be entirely devoted to one religion,
Shyamalan uses his films to reflect his various musings and approaches to the very concept of
faith. For "Signs," he found that creating a lead character who awakens to his own potential ended
up encapsulating his own thoughts on faith at the time that he was writing the film.
Making a movie about the necessity of clinging to faith serves as an interesting and hopeful
contrast to how the topic has cropped up in other Shyamalan films. Specifically,
"Unbreakable," which sees the main character's faith in Mr. Glass shattered once he learns
that this man was responsible for the train crash that revealed his superpowers. Holding
faith in someone else only led to bitter disappointment in "Unbreakable," whereas
faith is what saves the day in "Signs." This variety and change in how one looks at faith
doesn't just ensure that Shyamalan's movies can stand apart. They also lend fascinating
insight into the man's complicated and ever-changing relationship with it.
"There is no one watching out for us, Merrill. We are all on our own."
There's no denying that there are some overlapping similarities between
three of M. Night Shyamalan's films. "The Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable," and "Signs"
all prominently feature children who have strained relationships with their parents,
while a spiritual quality exists to a varying degree across all these movies. Plus,
they all show off a style of dialogue that's come to be known as distinctly the work of Shyamalan.
"I see dead people."
However, in the filmmaker's opinion, "Signs" manages to separate itself from
his earlier works simply by being a much more emotional creation.
Speaking to Blackfilm, Shyamalan was upfront about how emotional he can be as a person, which informs
how much he puts into his work. However, one of his earlier efforts, "Wide Awake," got pummeled
by critics and moviegoers for its unabashedly sentimental qualities. While Shyamalan didn't
agree with these critiques, they did inspire him to pull back on his emotions for his subsequent
films. Having proven himself as a filmmaker with "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," he decided
it was time to get back to his comfort zone of writing movies that wear their emotions on their
sleeves with "Signs." While acknowledging that being so forward with your movie's emotions can
turn off audiences, going this route made "Signs" something deeply personal to Shyamalan. It ensured
the movie could immediately differentiate itself from his prior filmmaking efforts.
"Signs" was a momentous motion picture in a tragic way that nobody involved in
the production of this movie could have seen coming. The film ended up being one
of the first major Hollywood productions to start shooting after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Filming on features had briefly ground to a halt with all the uncertainty looming in the
air in the entertainment industry. "Signs" was the canary in the coal mine to help figure out
what shooting American movies even looked like in the wake of such unspeakable horrors. It was an
experience that Shyamalan still remembers clearly years after the project wrapped.
Speaking to The Ringer in 2020, Shyamalan recalled that so much of the crew working on "Signs" hailed
from New York. He felt overwhelmed trying to lead people at his age in such an unimaginable
moment in history. Though the screenplay for "Signs" was written long before 9/11,
he felt that the movie ended up being molded by the public psyche in the wake of the national
tragedy. There was a sense of sorrow and uncertainty lingering over everybody that
helped inform the thriller aspects of "Signs," while its emotional moments of family members
bonding felt all the more resonant. 9/11 reverberated throughout the film,
even in the way it made history by helping the industry resume following the tragedy.
Some directors attract notable actors because of very concrete parts of their
creative process. In talking about M. Night Shyamalan to Entertainment Weekly,
"Signs" actor Joaquin Phoenix noted that he couldn't pinpoint what made the filmmaker so
compelling. However, being unable to name that quality wasn't an issue for Phoenix. In fact,
the actor actually enjoyed how undefined Shyamalan was on the set.
Phoenix said the following of the filmmaker:
"I trusted him, but I can't really put my finger on why. [...] There
was just something in his eyes. I've thought about this a number
of times. It's been a year and I can't say specifically what it is about Night."
Even if the specific qualities that made the director so fascinating to
Phoenix remained unclear, it's obvious Shyamalan emerged as somebody the actor
could lean on while making a movie as intense as "Signs." Sometimes,
that steadiness is all you need to lure in a big-name talent to your movie.
"Listen, there's things I can take, and a couple things I can't."
The movies of M. Night Shyamalan have become famous for their twists. However,
the best instances of unexpected turns in this man's work have been ones that function beyond
their shock value. The twists at the end of "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," especially,
deepen the movie that audiences just watched and beg for viewers to revisit the entire feature in
a new light. In other words, these twists enhance the characters rather than reduce them to pieces
in an elaborate carnival show. For "Signs," Shyamalan attempted to remember this method by
crafting a script that could make the major twists in the climax feel organic instead of contrived.
Speaking to The Ringer, Shyamalan noted that as a human being, he's always aware of how
elements of his past, such as a conversation with his wife, are impacting him in the here
and now. For the twists at the end of "Signs," he tried to channel this phenomenon by having
the means of defeating the alien antagonist build upon earlier lines of dialogue from the
younger character and Graham's deceased wife. What seemed like just ramblings from a dying
person or peculiar behavior from a child ended up meaning much more than that in the long run.
The twists then become natural extensions of the behavior of the characters rather than
just an obligatory element in the movie meant to live up to Shyamalan's pop culture persona.
With "The Sixth Sense," M. Night Shyamalan established himself not just as a filmmaker
of note, but also as somebody who could attract moviegoers from all over the planet. Smashing the
box office with $290 million domestically, "The Sixth Sense" ended up casting a long
shadow over any future movie the director would make. It would be next to impossible
for nearly any other feature he'd create to match the gargantuan financial success
of this breakthrough title. Though "Signs" wasn't quite as big as "The Sixth Sense," it
still managed to become a very impressive box office performer in its own right.
In its domestic run, "Signs" grossed over $227 million — a massive amount that put it as the
biggest movie Mel Gibson has ever acted in by a considerable margin. Plus, it's the only film
he's appeared in on-screen that exceeded the $200 million mark in North America. With an additional
$180 million internationally, "Signs" grossed over $408 million globally. It's a significant and
profitable haul, considering it was created on a $70 million budget. The massive success of "Signs"
was made evident by where it ended up ranking among all 2002 titles at the box office. This
Shyamalan feature was the seventh-biggest movie of the year worldwide and the sixth biggest of
the year in North America. It may not have been quite as big as "The Sixth Sense," but "Signs"
still packed a wallop financially. Certainly everyone involved went smiling to the bank.