Six might be director M. Night Shyamalan's lucky number. In Chinese culture, it is an auspicious numeral as it denotes 'doing things smoothly'. Could it be that The Happening, the latest and sixth film he has made since the smash hit, The Sixth Sense, will be smooth sailing?
The writer-director, however, believes in another numerical charm. He chose to release the thriller in the US on June 13 - Friday the 13th.
'I hope 13 will be my lucky number,' he says in a telephone interview, just before he left for a 10-day promotional tour in Europe.
Shyamalan, who turns 38 in August, has high hopes for his new film, touted as his scariest yet. The Happening stars Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg and indie favourite Zooey Deschanel as a high school teacher and his estranged wife fleeing an environmental disaster as mysterious airborne toxin strikes the US east coast. Like his previous blockbusters, The Happening was shot extensively in his hometown, Philadelphia, and around. Unlike them, this is Shyamalan's first aimed mainly at adults. In the US, The Happening will be rated R: only those aged 17 or older may see it, unless supervised by a parent or guardian.
'It is an extremely scary film,' says Shyamalan. 'The events unfold in a small area in the US, with the protagonists trying to get away from the danger.'
Shyamalan decided on Wahlberg from the start. 'As I was writing the script, it became clear what Elliott, the high school teacher, was like,' he says.
