Shyamalan Aims to Scare

Associated Press

MUMBAI, India -- Hollywood filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan promised that his new movie, "The Happening" starring Mark Wahlberg as an ordinary school teacher, will terrify the crowds.

"It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you," the Indian-born director told reporters in Mumbai.

Shyamalan was visiting India to receive one of the country's highest civilian awards for his contribution to cinema.

In his new movie, which will be released worldwide on June. 13, Wahlberg plays a school teacher on the run from a natural disaster that threatens the entire world.

"The emotional center of the movie is if you knew you were going to die - that was a fact - what would your conversation be like? What would be the last thing you would say to your loved one?" Shyamalan said.

He said he enjoys casting action heroes and giving them surprising roles - think Bruce Willis in "The Sixth Sense," Mel Gibson in "Signs," and now Wahlberg in his latest film.

"I like to cast action stars and then not let them do action roles. They still bring an energy to the movie," he said. "You would never have seen Mark (Wahlberg) in a role like this - he's human, sweet and funny. He plays an ordinary school teacher who is not going to come up with a genius plan to save the world."

A Hollywood favorite, Shyamalan was widely criticized for the 2006 fantasy flop "Lady in the Water" about a nymph living in a chamber beneath a swimming pool.

On Monday, he defended it as one of his best films, though he acknowledged it was the only one that lost money.

"Time will tell if I'm a fraud," he said. "These are the movies that represent me."

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