
Age: 55
male
Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan, is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raised in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. He made his directorial debut in 1992 with his first movie Praying with Anger. His second movie was the comedy-drama film Wide Awake (1998). His most well-received films include the supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense (1999), the superhero thriller Unbreakable (2000), and the science fiction thriller Signs (2002). Afterward, Shyamalan released a series of poorly received but sometimes financially successful movies, including the period-piece thriller The Village (2004), the dark fantasy Lady in the Water (2006), the eco-thriller The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), and the science fiction film After Earth (2013). Following the financial failure of After Earth, Shyamalan's career was revived with the release of the found-footage horror film The Visit (2015), the psychological thriller Split (2016), and the superhero thriller Glass (2019). Glass is the third and final chapter of his Unbreakable film series, which commenced in 2000. In addition to his directorial work, Shyamalan was a story creator and a producer for the horror film Devil (2010). Shyamalan was also called in for an uncredited rewrite for the teen film She's All That (1999) and also served as a writer for the film Stuart Little (1999). Shyamalan is also known for filming and setting his films in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most of his commercially successful films were co-produced and released by Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures and Universal imprints. In 2008, Shyamalan was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India.

Poppy Playtime is a 2025 American psychological horror film based on the video game of the same name developed by Mob Entertainment. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films and The Stone Quarry, it is the first of a three-part adaptation to the game, primarily covering the first two chapters. Directed by Jodie Foster from a screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan and Gore Verbinski, the film stars Piper Rubio as the title character, alongside Emma Roberts, Jeffrey Wright, Tika Sumpter, Andy Serkis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Hemsworth as Huggy Wuggy, and Jennifer Tilly as Mommy Long Legs. In the film, a former employee of the Playtime Company befriends Poppy Playtime, its titular mascot, and they both go into conflict with the now-hostile creatures living within the company's facility, which has been abandoned for seven years. Released as a Netflix film, Poppy Playtime opened in theaters on December 2nd, 2025; it received generally positive reviews with critics and audiences praising its atmosphere, direction, visual effects, jumpscares, Hans Zimmer's musical score, themes, cinematography, Rubio's performance and the faithfulness to the source material, but critics found the dialogue and Huggy Wuggy's screentime lacking. It was also a box-office success, grossing $813 million worldwide. A sequel entitled Poppy Playtime II: Playcare was released just a year later.
