M. Night Shyamalan to film new movie in Cincinnati

M. Night Shyamalan attends the premiere of Apple+ TV's "Servant" Season 4 at the Walter Reade Theater on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Credit: Evan Agostini

Credit: Evan Agostini

M. Night Shyamalan attends the premiere of Apple+ TV's "Servant" Season 4 at the Walter Reade Theater on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CINCINNATI — Legendary movie director M. Night Shyamalan is expected to film his next movie in the Tri-State.

A feature film called “Trap” received a $9.5 million tax credit from the state of Ohio to film, according to the Department of Development’s website.

State officials told Journal-News partners WCPO that Cincinnati is listed as a “region of production” for the film.

Right now, the film is in its pre-production phase, according the Internal Movie Database (IMDb). Shymalan is credited as the film’s director, producer and writer.

According to Comicbook.com, Shymalan described the movie as a “psychological thriller set at a concert” while speaking at a recent Warner Bros.’ presentation at CineEurope.

The film is listed as a horror, mystery and thriller on IMDb.

As of right now, there are no confirmed cast members.

It is also unclear when production will start due to the ongoing writer and actor strike.

Roughly 65,000 SAG-AFTRA actors and 11,500 Writers Guild of America members are currently on strike. They’re both calling for better pay structures, including residual payments, and protection from artificial intelligence use; but bargaining with major studios hasn’t proved an easy task.

Writers haven’t returned to the negotiation table since early May, when the strike began. That month, the Daytime Emmy Awards, set for June 16, were postponed, and a new air date still hasn’t been announced.

The 75th Emmy Awards show originally planned for Sept. 18 will now be postponed for the first time in 22 years due to the strike.

The Cincinnati region has become a hot spot for major productions in recent years.

D. Lynn Meyers, a local casting director said there have been more than 50 movies that have filmed in the Greater Cincinnati area in the last five years.

Just some of these films include Robert De Niro’s “Wise Guys,” Tom Hardy’s “The Bikeriders,” and Zac Efron’s “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.”

Shyamalan is best known for his work on “The Sixth Sense,” “The Village,” “Signs,” “Split” and many more.

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