M Night Shyamalan to direct new ‘Magic 8 Ball’ television series
M Night Shyamalan will soon be returning to television with a live-action series based on Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball.
The series, which was first announced by Mattel and Shyamalan on Instagram, will include Shyamalan as director and co-creator alongside American Horror Story’s Brad Falchuk, who is involved as the show’s writer and co-creator.
According to Mattel, Shyamalan and Falchuk “aim to reimagine the classic Magic 8 Ball as the centrepiece of a high-concept, character-driven supernatural drama that blends psychological intensity with cultural intrigue”.
On Instagram, Shyamalan teased the upcoming release with one of the toy’s well-known prompts, “It Is Certain”, while revealing he has also been working on the project “for a couple of years”.
Shyamalan’s most recent release, 2024’s Trap, follows the story of a father who attends a concert with his daughter without knowing the whole thing is actually a setup to catch a serial killer in attendance. It was initially inspired by Operation Flagship, when authorities pulled off a similar move in an effort to catch wanted criminals.
“It just stuck with me, and I guess when Saleka and I were thinking about a movie at a concert, I wondered, why would this person not be able to get out, and how can I keep them there?” Shyamalan later reflected to the BBC. The film was divisive among critics upon release, but went on to gross $83 million, up from its $30 million budget.
The upcoming series, Magic 8 Ball, will also follow on from Mattel’s recent success in creating stories out of popular children’s toys. Considering the global success of 2023’s Barbie, it’s likely that the screen adaptation for their manufactured Magic 8 Balls will prove to be another smash, especially with Shyamalan’s proven track record for intricate storytelling that resonates with mainstream audiences.
A confirmed release date has yet to be announced.
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