M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Glass’: Everything we know so far

Directed and written by Shyamalan, Glass brings back much of the cast of both films — Unbreakable and Split — for a crossover that pits the heroes and villains of each film against each other. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and James McAvoy are among the featured cast members confirmed to reprise their roles.

Here is everything we know about Glass so far.

• Title: Glass
• Release date: January 18, 2019
• Cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan

The trailer

The first trailer for Glass (see above) debuted July 20 during Comic-Con, but Universal Pictures kept fans excited for its arrival with a series of brief teaser videos leading up to the trailer’s premiere. Each video put the spotlight on a different character from Split and Unbreakable.

The poster

Shyamalan revealed the first poster for Glass on Twitter, and accompanied it with a promise to give fans a better look at the film July 20 when the first trailer premieres.

But if you need your #GlassMovie fix before July 20th, here’s the world premiere of our teaser poster. pic.twitter.com/HsMa0bzR7N

— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) June 29, 2018

The poster features the films’ three main characters: Jackson’s fragile but brilliant Mr. Glass from Unbreakable, McAvoy’s multiple-personality villain The Horde from Split, and Willis’ powerful and practically invulnerable vigilante David Dunn from Unbreakable. Each of the three characters is shown seated in various forms, with their shadows revealing more colorful identities.

The cast

Along with Willis, Jackson, and McAvoy (pictured), Glass also brings back Spencer Treat Clark as David’s son, Joseph; Charlayne Woodard as Mr. Glass’ mother; and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, who survived her ordeal with The Horde in Split. Joining the franchise in Glass is American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson, who will play psychiatrist Ellie Staple in the film.

The director

Day 1: Seventeen years in the making. #Glass pic.twitter.com/La6X6alKgx

— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) October 2, 2017

M. Night Shyamalan returns behind the camera for the third installment of a trilogy that began with 2000’s Unbreakable. The two-time Academy Award nominee (for writing and directing The Sixth Sense) insisted for years that he hoped to make a sequel to his dark superhero drama, and will finally get that chance with Glass.

The background

Glass was first announced in April 2017 following the tremendous success of Split, which was made for approximately $9 million and ended up earning $278.4 million worldwide and $138.2 million in U.S. theaters.

The film cast Taylor-Joy as a teenager kidnapped by McAvoy’s character, whose body and mind serve as host to more than 20 different personalities — including one particularly violent personality known as “The Beast” that manifests superhuman abilities. The final scene of Split connected the film to Unbreakable with a scene featuring Willis as Unbreakable protagonist David Dunn, who discovered that he had superhuman strength and invulnerability after a deadly train crash in the 2000 film.

Updated July 21 with the film’s first trailer.