M Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana to make directorial debut with ‘The Watchers’

M. Night Shyamalan (center) and daughters Saleka Shyamalan (left), and Ishana Shyamalan (right)
| Photo Credit: Evan Agostini

Writer Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of filmmaker M Night Shyamalan, is set to direct her first feature film titled The Watchers for production banner New Line Cinema.

Ishana, who recently served as writer and director on the critically-acclaimed Apple TV+ series Servant, which was showrun by her father, has adapted her film from the A M Shine novel of the same name.

Production on the thriller will begin later this year with the studio eyeing a June 7, 2024, worldwide release, reported Deadline.

The Watchers revolves around Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. “When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night,” the official logline read.

M Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan are on board to produce the film through Blinding Edge Pictures. Nimitt Mankad with Inimitable Pictures will also serve as a producer, and Jo Homewood is attached as an executive producer.

“We couldn’t be more excited to make Ishana’s first film with The Watchers. Equal parts visual, immersive, and terrifying, the script grips you from the first page and never lets go,” said Richard Brener, President and Chief Creative Officer, New Line Cinema.

Ishana, a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, also directed the second unit on her father’s hit films Old (2021) and Knock at the Cabin (2023).