8 Upcoming Sequels Nobody Ever Thought Would Happen

In the wake of The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan delivered Unbreakable, a somewhat downbeat but brilliant film starring Bruce Willis as the lone survivor of a devastating train crash, who comes to realises he's invincible. It played out like a superhero origin story set in the real world, and begged for further sequels.

It's insane to think, then, almost two decades after its release, that we're finally getting a proper continuation. It's one of the most elusive follow-ups, with director M. Night Shyamalan having mentioned he'd like to do it in 2001, 2008, and 2010, with each announcement quickly followed by a lengthy period of silence.

Then came Split, a horror/thriller starring James McAvoy that seemingly bared no relation to Unbreakable. In its twisty end scene, though, we get a glimpse of Willis' hero from Unbreakable watching a news story about McAvoy's supervillain, and suddenly it's made clear: we're watching a film set in the world of Unbreakable.

What happened next was even more unexpected: Shyamalan announced a further sequel to Split, focusing on Samuel L. Jackson's Unbreakable villain, Mr. Glass, featuring both Willis and McAvoy, with a release date of 2019. Set to tie up the events of the previous flicks (forming the so-called "Eastrail 177 trilogy"), Glass has the potential to be the best of the three pictures when it hits theatres next year.

But who ever thought we'd get to this point, almost twenty years later? Especially since the original film was only a minor hit, and M. Night Shyamalan has since been through a long, sad period making some truly terrible films. Miracles do happen!