M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most divisive film directors around, which isn't surprising – this is the man behind both the brilliant The Sixth Sense and the less-than-brilliant The Last Airbender. Now the director has revealed that he's working on a brand new film, and he's just shared the title and teaser poster.
Shyamalan tweeted (below) that he has just begun shooting the film, titled Old, along with a poster revealing a July 2021 release date. Plot details remain a mystery, but the poster's bold and bizarre design suggests the director's penchant for the supernatural is as strong as ever. If you're looking for more striking poster designs, our best print ads list is full of head-turners.
Feels like a miracle that I am standing here shooting the first shot of my new film. It's called Old. #OldMovie @OldTheMovie pic.twitter.com/hth8jUum8KSeptember 26, 2020
The design itself is appropriately grim for 2020. A monochrome hourglass is, on closer inspection, filled with falling bodies instead of sand. Accompanying the image is the tagline: 'It's only a matter of time'. It's a strong image – but what does it all mean?
But what does it all MEAN? (Image credit: M. Night Shyamalan)
Shyamalan is notoriously secretive about his projects, and fans are already taking to Twitter to guess what the film could be about, based solely on the title and poster (below). Assuming it isn't literally about a bunch people trapped inside an hourglass (although you never know), the poster is ripe for interpretation.
Glass is made of sand... An hourglass is sand in glass... An hourglass is a very breakable very old technology... obviously I have a Sixth Sense for these kinds of Signs.September 26, 2020
What I get from the poster is that it will deal with people perhaps taking a trip to an island and will explore concepts of matter and time, like Lost.You don't need a mask, old or young, you just need some Vitamin D 😏September 26, 2020
Wow already looking forward to it. Trying to work out what the movie will be about by looking at the poster 🤔 Obv it will have a plot twist at the end. Any thoughts anybody..?September 26, 2020
Indeed, the only thing that feels certain is that the film will feature a huge twist. From The Sixth Sense to The Village, Shyamalan's films are renowned for their rug-pulling endings. We've little to go on here, but with the hourglass and the 'Old' title, could we be in for a time travel-based shock? Or perhaps the real twist is that, if recent film delays are anything to go by, we'll all be old by the time this one finally hits cinemas.
Like all the best poster designs, this one has got us (and the internet) both talking and guessing. And the same certainly can't be said for every film poster of 2020 – we've been pretty disappointed with the print campaign for the upcoming No Time to Die. Thankfully, these brilliant recent fan-made Bond posters are much better than the real things.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
