Will R-Rating centric TV commercials help or hinder

By Kate Brennan

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/13/08 — For a writer-director known to be fond of symbolism it is ominous that the marketing surrounding M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film ‘The Happening’ is based on little more than the film’s “R” rating – not on its hit stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel or John Leguizamo.

Commercials for the film are short on plot and heavy on rating hype suggesting that those theater goers hoping for a return to the ‘The Sixth Sense’ glory days may be disappointed. Audiences will undoubtedly be curious to see what happens when Shyamalan has license to be as graphically disturbing as he wishes. But if ‘The Happening’ falls short on the kind of suspense that brought Shyamalan his initial fame can gore sustain the film in the box office?

Shyamalan’s films have seen dramatic differences in box office grosses since his acclaimed film ‘The Sixth Sense’ starring Bruce Willis in 1999, which grossed upwards of $177 million. Then in 2000 ‘Unbreakable’ again starring Willis, was unable to reproduce box office gold and it brought in only $64 million leaving audiences to wonder if Shyamalan had staying power. Fans and filmmakers alike were encouraged after the alien thriller ‘Signs’ grossed over $167 million. But have since remained disappointed by the lukewarm reviews and poor box office returns of Shyamalan’s following two films ‘The Village’ (2004) and ‘Lady in the Water’ (2006) which grossed $88 million and $34 million respectively.

Fans attribute these declines to poor plots and in some cases misleading marketing. ‘The Village’ was marketed as a gruesome horror flick when in reality it was relatively low on gore and many thought it carried a thought provoking message about society at large. The plot of ‘Lady in the Water’ was widely criticized for being disjointed and slow despite advertising that showed the film in a creepy and suspenseful light.

With little substance to go on audiences for ‘The Happening’ will have to bank on gore or hope that Shyamalan has one of his characteristic plot twists up his sleeve.