As much as I love Philadelphia, I know it’s not always a hub of desi activity. But we do have one thing. Or should I say, one man. We have M. Night Shyamalan. All right, fine. Maybe given his recent string of flops, that’s not much to be proud of, but we take what we can. One of the reasons why Shyamalan remains beloved by Philadelphians is because he continues to base his productions in and around the City of Brotherly Love. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Lady in the Water and his upcoming film, The Last Airbender, were all filmed in and around Philadelphia.
With the combination of Shyamalan and the recent spate of Bollywood films that were shot in Philadelphia, Philadelphia desis didn’t have to go far to see some of their favorite South Asian stars. (Which reminds me, Dev Patel, please come back to Philadelphia.I promise I’ll stop stalking you.) But today, it was announced that Shyamalan is leaving Philadelphia for the budget-friendly shores of Canada to film his latest production, Devil.
With uncertainty about whether Pennsylvania’s film tax credit will be authorized in the state budget – now in Day 56 of limbo – the supernatural thriller (which Shyamalan wrote and is producing) has relocated production to Toronto. Though the filmmaker has shot eight of his nine features in the Philadelphia region – for an estimated economic impact of $375 million, according to the local film office – his backers couldn’t wait any longer for legislators to approve the incentive that brings filmmaking and jobs to the state.
[Link.]
Great, so now no more Shyamalan. Oh well, at least we have the Phillies.
And Capogiro! 😀
I missed the Michelle Obama visit by minutes. Twitter is such a tease.
mooahahahah
kiss my chaddi phillyvalas.
I see more flops
and u guys got michael vick!
You can only hope that he’s stopped at the border the next time he tries to fly back, and milks the purported skin color profiling for all its worth as publicity for his next movie, “The Color of Night”. The surprise ending? He was trying to fly to India.
@rahul love the surprise ending.
on another note, Shymalan’s first feature film is called Praying With Anger. Has anyone seen it? It was released years ago (imdb says ’92). It was pretty fascinating and Shyamalan starred as well as directed/produced.
Philly chicken is what I used to eat most of the time when I was a student. On a side note, Avatar is based on eastern philosophy.
“..his upcoming film, The Last Airbenderâ€
Amazing that he is still getting funded. The gods must be really smiling on him!
Hey, we also apparently have an “unnamed James L. Brooks movie” too. My street, and all the streets in a four-block radius, will be No Parking for it. Boo. Where am I going to park??
But apparently Owen Wilson was spotted at our local Whole Foods (Callowhill) and Reese Witherspoon was at Parc. I will agree to this movie in my neighborhood, IF I see a film star.
Why not M. Night make a movie with Will Smith? They’re both from Philadelphia, maybe Will can stop M. Night’s flop streak.