M. Night Shyamalan has revealed that his upcoming film Remain is “the highest-testing” movie of his directorial career.
M. Night Shyamalan has revealed that his upcoming movie Remain is “the highest-testing” picture of his filmmaking career.
The 55-year-old director has helmed the forthcoming supernatural romantic thriller – which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Julie Hagerty and is slated for release in February 2027 – and claims that it has impressed audiences at test screenings.
Speaking at a Warner Bros. Discovery presentation in New York on Wednesday (13.05.26), Shyamalan said: “Just between us, it’s my highest-testing movie of my career.
“We’re now in post-production, finding every detail. Honestly, my hope is that when you experience Remain, you feel both sides of it at once – full of love and that quiet, lingering unease that doesn’t let you go.”
Shyamalan – who has directed hit movies such as The Sixth Sense and Split – explained how the idea for Remain came from a conversation he had with Nicholas Sparks, the author of popular romance novel The Notebook, which was adapted into a film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
He said: “My new movie began with a conversation, an unexpected one, with a celebrated author, Nicholas Sparks.
“He sold more than 130 million books worldwide and wrote one of the most iconic love stories ever, The Notebook. Romance is his territory. Mine’s a little different. I’m drawn to suspense, to twists and tension and stories that leave you just a little unsettled long after they are over. That feels like home to me.”
Shyamalan continued: “We started from nothing, just a couple of questions: What scares you? What moves you? What stays with you? We challenged each other. We traded ideas and slowly wove two very different perspectives into a single, thrilling, supernatural love story.
“In the end, we get to tell it our own way. Mine through film, Nicholas through his novel.”
However, the filmmaker doesn’t consider Remain to be an “adaptation”.
Shyamalan said: “The novel is not a novelisation, and the film is not an adaptation. It’s two storytellers telling the story of Remain in their own way.
“Together, we created the story of recluse architect Tate Gordon, who moves to a small coastal town to complete his latest project when he encounters a beguiling young woman who pulls him out of his shell and into the centre of a deadly mystery that hangs over this town.”
Remain will be Shyamalan’s first outing behind the camera since the 2024 thriller Trap and he explained at the time that he was grateful to still be directing after more than 30 years in the movie business.
The Unbreakable filmmaker told Empire magazine: “Well, to be still doing this after 30 years is so exciting. They are original movies, but they are also from the same author. This is part of a longer conversation that pre-existed this and will continue after this. It’s so rare, to have this relationship with the audience.”
‘Highest-testing movie of my career’: M. Night Shyamalan has big expectations for Remain
