2. Cypher's Been Dead The Whole Time
The Theory: Yes, it's been done. Yes, it's been done by M. Night. Yes, it's lame. But...the trailer and concept of the film have some compelling pieces of evidence that show this theory culd be an inconvenient truth for Mr. Shyamalan's latest film. So the theory goes as follows: after a rather turbulent journey that leaves the ship crash landed on Earth, Kitai starts hallucinating/fabricating his father's existence in order to make it through the journey. He faces great odds with the guidance of his father, and manifests his wisdom and knowledge in a presence that remains in the ship (which will never be recovered) in order to retrieve the emergency beacon. Cut to the end of the film, and Kitai is rescued. As he's being lifted off of the planet, the spirit of his father looks up at him, and he looks right back. Father and Son say a silent goodbye, as Kitai leaves Earth ready to become the man his family always knew he could be.
Supporting Evidence: So towards the beginning of the trailer, we see Cypher and Kitai breathing through Oxygen masks, followed by Cypher being thrown across the cabin. After some quick cuts, we learn that not only one, but both ends of the ship have some off in the accident. Supposedly injured, Cypher stays on board the remains of the ship and guides Kitai through his journey. Yet, if you were injured AND on a planet of dangerous creatures that could kill you, wouldn't you want to hide somewhere a little more secure than the wreckage of a ship? Doesn't make sense, unless of course you're a spirit/fabrication that can't leave the last point it was living in. It's a twist that Shyamalan has used before, and with the trend of filmmakers returning to old formulas and spinning them into sometimes slightly newer stories, don't expect M. Night to be immune to a quick story-making shortcut.