Alamo Drafthouse and Universal are teaming up to put together a special M. Night Shyamalanathon event in celebration of the release of Glass. The latest film from Shyamalan, which premieres in a couple of weeks, serves as the conclusion to an unlikely trilogy of films that started way back in 2000 with Unbreakable. For years, fans of the superhero drama yearned for a sequel, and their wishes were (basically) answered in 2017 with Split. Shyamalan delivered his best twist ending in years by revealing Split took place in the same universe as Unbreakable, setting the stage for a showdown between David Dunn and The Beast.

Given how successful Split was ($278.4 million worldwide gross against a $9 million budget), direct sequel Glass came together very quickly. It’s without question the most hyped release of January and is expected to do very well at the box office when it opens. Fans of Shyamalan’s work will undoubtedly be revisiting Unbreakable and Split in preparation of Glass, and now they have an opportunity to see all three back-to-back-to-back during a special screening event.

Today, Universal and Alamo Drafthouse announced the “M. Night Shyamalanathon” will take place at 25 Alamo locations across the country on Saturday, January 12. As the clever name suggests, it’s a marathon that includes Unbreakable, Split, and Glass as well as a conversation with Shyamalan that will be broadcast in all participating locations. Attendees will be among the first U.S. viewers to see Glass, adding to the excitement. Interested parties can visit Drafthouse’s website to secure tickets.

Franchise-spanning marathon events like this are nothing new. In the past, AMC held an MCU marathon to commemorate the arrival of Avengers: Infinity War and Cineplex hosted a Star Wars saga marathon as The Last Jedi entered theaters. That Shyamalan’s Unbreakable series (which also goes by the moniker Eastrail 177 trilogy) is deemed worthy of such an event is refreshing to see and illustrates how far Unbreakable’s reputation has come in the nearly two decades since it was released. During its initial run, the grounded superhero film (which was well ahead of its time) wasn’t as highly-regarded as The Sixth Sense and paled in comparison at the box office ($95 million domestically). But now, it’s considered one of Shyamalan’s best and obviously has a passionate fan base behind it.

Glass is the first time there’s been palpable hype for a new Shyamalan film in quite some time, and it’ll be interesting to see if it can live up to the high expectations. It would be a shame if this unlikely trilogy was sullied by a mediocre conclusion, so hopefully Shyamalan crafted a strong finale. After a string of critical and commercial disappointments, he seems to have rediscovered his groove by returning to his roots as a filmmaker (remember, this comeback tour started with The Visit), so he’s definitely operating in his wheelhouse. Fingers crossed Glass gets 2019 off to a roaring start.

More: Screen Rant’s 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

Source: Universal and Alamo Drafthouse

  • Unbreakable 2 Release Date: 2019-01-18 Glass Release Date: 2019-01-18