M. Night Shyamalan took an interesting approach when pitching his new movie “Trap,” which centers around police trying to capture a notorious serial killer at a pop star’s concert…
M. Night Shyamalan has tackled a lot of different genres during his film career.
From ghosts to superheroes to fairy tales and everything in between, Shyamalan isn’t easy to define when it comes to his work so it should come as no surprise that he had quite a pitch when he was going to the studio to reveal plans for his next film.
“What if ‘Silence of the Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert?” Shyamalan revealed when speaking to Empire.
That concept eventually became his newest film “Trap,” which is due out on August 2 with Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill starring.
“Trap” follows a father taking his daughter to see her favorite pop star in concert — as played by Shyamalan’s daughter — but it’s there he learns that the police are preparing to spring a trap to catch a notorious serial killer in attendance. Oh yeah, the father as played by Josh Hartnett is the serial killer.
Shyamalan got at least part of the inspiration for the film from “Operation Flagship” — a 1985 plot where authorities lured in several fugitives with the promise of free NFL tickets and a trip to the Super Bowl but when around 100 people showed up, they were all arrested on the spot.
“It was hilarious,” Shyamalan said about the caper “The cops were literally cheerleaders and mascots. These guys were dancing as they came in. And they were all caught. It was so twisted and funny.”
The film also gave him a chance to work with his daughter Saleka, who provides all of the music for the film as her pop star counterpart “Lady Raven.” While it may seem like the concert is just a backdrop to the serial killer story unfolding with Hartnett’s character attempting to evade capture, Shyamalan promises that the music and the plot in the movie go hand in hand.
“I directed an entire concert!” Shyamalan said. “And it wasn’t just a thing in the background. It’s equally important. There is no pretend concert going on. I love the idea of cinema as windows within windows. One of the reasons to come see the movie at the movie theatre is because there’s literally a real concert that you can see nowhere except in that movie.”
“Trap” also gives Shyamalan the chance to return to more of his own original material after his previous film was based on a book called “A Cabin at the End of the World.” With Hollywood being bombarded constantly with remakes and reboots, Shyamalan is still a big believer in totally originally films, which is what he’s striving to accomplish with his newest feature.
“I really do believe in the original movie,” Shyamalan said. “I want the industry to move towards more original storytelling. I think audiences would really like it. Look, I know there’s safety in IP. But it’s really important that we come to the movies and see something we’ve never seen before. I’ll keep fighting for that.”
“Trap” opens in theaters nationwide on Aug. 2 and you can check out the trailer below.
