M. Night Shyamalan is back with a supernatural thriller, and he’s brought an unlikely partner along for the ride. The director of “The Sixth Sense” has teamed with romance novelist Nicholas Sparks for a film that folds a love story inside a creeping mystery, hitting theaters February 5, 2027 via Warner Bros.
The collaboration traces back to a near-miss decades ago. A young Shyamalan was once tapped to adapt Sparks’ “The Notebook,” but turned it down because he was already committed to what would become his breakout, “The Sixth Sense.” Nearly three decades later, the two reunited, agreeing that each would bring an original story idea suited to both of their mediums. The result was “Remain,” developed simultaneously as a Sparks novel — a #1 New York Times bestseller released in October 2025 — and a Shyamalan-directed film.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Tate, a grieving architect who relocates to Cape Cod for work after a stint in a psychiatric facility. In the historic town where he settles, he crosses paths with Wren, an alluring, mysterious young woman played by Phoebe Dynevor of “Bridgerton” — a woman who draws him out of his grief and into a deadly mystery hanging over the town. The supporting cast includes Ashley Walters, Julie Hagerty, Jay O. Sanders, Tracy Ifeachor, and Maria Dizzia. Shyamalan wrote, directed, and produced the film through his Blinding Edge Pictures banner, with longtime collaborator James Newton Howard scoring it.
Sparks has praised the casting, noting he’d already worked with plenty of big names over his career and was thrilled Gyllenhaal came aboard for this one.
And because this is a Shyamalan picture, expect a twist. The trailer positions “Remain” at the fault line where a Sparks tearjerker meets the eerie psychological unease that made Shyamalan a household name.
