Now that M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass has been in theaters for a few weeks, it’s safe to say the film was both a box office success and disappointment. Billed as the first proper “event” film of 2019, Glass arrived in theaters with much fanfare since it served as the long-gestating conclusion to Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy. The unlikely franchise kicked off with the director’s 2000 film Unbreakable and surprisingly continued with 2017’s Split. Fans of both movies were excited to see what Shyamalan had in store, especially since there seemed to be endless potential in combining the intriguing characters.
Sadly, the end results were something of a mixed bag. While there’s no denying Glass contains some truly fascinating ideas and is a refreshing change-of-pace from the typical superhero movie, it was bogged down in baffling execution and narrative twists that left viewers feeling confused and unsatisfied. After a small comeback, Shyamalan was unable to live up to expectations (again), and Glass’ word-of-mouth seemed to have some impact on its commercial performance. The film will go down as a box office hit, but those involved were likely hoping for much more.
Glass Box Office Compared To Split
After a string of duds that culminated with the failure that was After Earth ($60.5 million total domestically), Shyamalan went back to his roots with the well-received thriller The Visit, which made $98.4 million worldwide against a $5 million budget. But it wasn’t until Split that Shyamalan’s redemption arc seemed complete. Buoyed by James McAvoy’s scintillating performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb (and his numerous personalities), Split likewise earned positive reviews and grossed $278.4 million globally against only a $9 million budget. Split, of course, ended with the now-famous reveal that it’s set in the Unbreakable universe, setting the stage for an exciting showdown.
Given the success of Split coupled with the palpable hype for Glass, it seemed like Shyamalan’s latest could be destined for the record books. The earliest box office projections for Glass had it pegged for as much as $75 million in its domestic opening weekend, which would have been a new all-time mark for Shyamalan’s career. However, these estimates came out weeks before the first Glass reviews went live, and the film’s mixed reception apparently killed some of the enthusiasm casual audiences had for the project. Glass ended up earning $40.5 million in its first three days, a respectable number for sure, but one that barely topped the $40 million debut of Split.
And this is why a case can be made Glass’ box office is a tad underwhelming. In a vacuum, the film is in solid shape (more on that in a bit), but it’s still a step back from Split. Remember, Split was marketed as a standalone Shyamalan thriller, with its larger connections saved as a surprise for the premiere. The fact that it made $40 million was an impressive accomplishment, seeing that its projections were set at a far more modest $25.5 million. In the case of Glass, it premiered against minimal competition (the glut of Christmas releases had already done most of their damage) and boasted a very visible marketing campaign akin to a Hollywood tentpole. Not only that, fans of Unbreakable had waited close to two decades for David Dunn and Elijah Price to return to the big screen, so it was surprising to see the turnout be so low relative to what was expected.
Things didn’t exactly improve for Glass as its domestic run continued. Despite winning three consecutive weekends (which can be attributed to the films Glass played against, rather than Glass’ merits), the film saw a steady decline in business. Through 19 days in theaters, it’s earned $90.6 million domestically. Split, on the other hand, made $101.1 million in the same timeframe. In all likelihood, Glass will not outgross its predecessor Stateside, especially with some high-profile new releases on the horizon. Surely, its time at the top of the charts will come to an end this weekend with The LEGO Movie 2 opening, and next week sees titles like Happy Death Day 2U and Alita: Battle Angel compete for ticket sales. Glass is going to slide down the rankings now, but Shyamalan can rest easy knowing his passion project wasn’t a lost cause.
Page 2: Why Glass Is Still A Box Office Success
Glass Is Still A Box Office Success
While it’s unfortunate Glass didn’t perform in line with the initial projections (it even couldn’t top Universal’s more conservative estimates of $50 million), the film is still very much a profitable endeavor. The production budget, which Shyamalan self-financed, came in at around $20 million. Going by the general rule of thumb, Glass needed to earn $40 million to break even. It was able to do that just after three days in America, and it has since soared past that benchmark. The current global total stands at $202.2 million, giving Glass a profit margin of $162.2 million just from ticket sales. That’s enough to make eight more Glasses and you’d still have a little extra change on the side.
Looking beyond the budget, Glass didn’t represent a longterm investment from Universal (and international distributor Disney) because it was always intended to be a one-off. The very idea of the film (mashing up Unbreakable and Split) reads as a natural entry point for the shared universe era, but Shyamalan envisioned this as the definitive conclusion of his trilogy and has no plans for sequels. As such, Glass did not have the future of an entire franchise riding on its success. Studios can get into trouble when they put the cart before the horse and announce numerous spinoffs and solo movies well in advance, only for their plans to crumble into dust (see: Justice League). That Glass didn’t generate widespread excitement for more stories set in this world is of no concern. Universal and Disney will happily take that $202.2 million to the bank and thank Shyamalan for delivering a profitable film.
Usually when an anticipated film struggles at the box office and doesn’t meet expectations, it spells disaster for the studio. Glass is a unique case in the sense that there was sizable room for error; the film earned $30 million less than its original projections and still ended up in the black. Glass illustrates the virtues of keeping production costs down, ensuring maximum profitability for executives. The biggest box office bombs of the year suffer their fate in large part due to monetary mismanagement. Solo: A Star Wars Story was originally budgeted at $125 million, but that figure ballooned to $250 million because of the extensive reshoots. Obviously, it’s virtually impossible to make blockbuster movies for $20 million, but producers can still learn a valuable lesson from Glass. Aquaman was budgeted at $160 million and did not need to make $1 billion worldwide in order to qualify as a success. That it hit that mark is just icing on the cake.
It’ll be interesting to see how Glass’ box office impacts Shyamalan’s career moving forward. One of the reasons why he needed to self-finance his three most recent movies is because producers were leery about investing in Shyamalan following his 2000s dark period and Shyamalan himself (understandably) wanted to have creative control over his movies. He’s already said he’s not all that interested in making a Marvel or DC movie, so it stands reason to believe he’s going to stay in his wheelhouse and focus on making smaller pictures where his unique cinematic voice can thrive. He’s struck up a fruitful partnership with Blumhouse, which seems like the perfect avenue for Shyamalan’s work. With him coming off three consecutive financial hits, he should be able to continue directing in the future. Shyamalan is currently working on an Apple TV series starring Rupert Grint and has yet to line up a new feature film.
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Glass’ box office is a fascinating topic shaded with nuance. By the textbook definition, it’s most definitely a success and it’ll only generate more revenue once the home media release drops. At the same time, there was certainly hope it could have been more, building off Split. This was the first time in quite a while there was genuine excitement surrounding the release of a new Shyamalan film and it unfortunately let a lot of people down. Based on these results, viewers can appreciate that Shyamalan was able to tell this story on his own terms, but it’s probably for the best he’s leaving the world of Unbreakable behind now.
