M. Night Shyamalan is turning to producing his ideas as he has just formed a deal with the company Media Rights Capital to create one thriller a year for three years but without him writing or directing.

It seems that the films will still come from his own ideas, but his company, Night Chronicles Project, will be looking for writers and directors to carry the projects forward while he produces.

According to the company Media Rights Capital there were two reasons why the deal attracted them, and it's a good deal for M. Night Shyamalan with fees, half of the film revenue and an ownership stake, he creates more ideas than he can film and he's got a great track record of bringing films in on budget.

I would have thought that there's also the fact he comes up with some superbly inventive and new ideas that haven't been seen before, that he can attract high end talent, and that he does create films that turn profits and are entertaining. Oh well, that's production companies for you.

Statements from both the production company and Shyamalan come through Variety:

“These films will be based on ideas in keeping with what has made Night so successful, and has made him unique to his time...”

“Filmmakers have always been my inspiration...Working with the next wave of innovative filmmakers will teach me many things that I can bring to my own writing/directing and give my stories the opportunity to be brought to the screen in a stunning way.”

So don't fear, it's not as though we're losing Shyamalan, it's just that he's going to be working on one project a year that will be his idea, his production, but not written or directed by him.

Since critics always hammer him for both his writing and directing, it'll be interesting to see what comes out of this project, however I'm still a fan, even after The Happening (Filmstalker review) failed to meet my expectations, and I'm keen to see more directly from him.