Do you remember the thriller/horror movie “The Sixth Sense’s” that was released in 1999? At the time when this movie was about to be released, Disney had so little faith in it.
But only the cast and members of this movie knew that they were making something special. Probably that’s why this movie received six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haley Joel Osment), Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.
Scroll down to know behind the scene facts.
No One Knew ‘I See Dead People’ Would Become A Cultural Staple
Haley Joel Osment Wasn’t What Shyamalan Had In Mind, Until His ‘Magical’ Audition
Bruce Willis Was Only In The Film Because Of His Contract With Disney
Osment Thought He And Collette ‘Whiffed’ Their Big Scene
Bids On The Spec Script Had To Start At A Minimum Of $1 Million
When M. Night Shyamalan went to Los Angeles in 1997 to pitch his spec script for this psychological horror film, he had a reputation in Hollywood as a talented screenwriter but had yet to have any commercial success as either a writer or director. That didn’t keep him from putting stipulations on The Sixth Sense‘s script – if anyone was interested in it, bids would have to start at $1,000,000, and Shyamalan would have to be attached to direct the film.
The Executive Who Bought The Script Ended Up Getting Fired
Donnie Wahlberg Lost 43 Pounds For His Role
A ‘Cold Room’ Was Built For Scenes Where We See The Actors’ Breath
The Original Script Was More Of A Serial Killer Thriller
Shyamalan’s first draft of the script was more of a serial killer film along the lines of The Silence of the Lambs. In the original version, Willis’s character was a crime photographer rather than a child psychologist, and Osment’s character would have been Willis’s son, a boy who saw visions of the prey his father photographed.
Frank Marshall Worried The ‘I See Dead People’ Scene Would Tip Audiences Off To Final Plot Twist
No One Was Aware During Production Of How Scary The Film Would Be
Toni Collette Shaved Her Head Before Her Audition, So She Wore A Wig In The Film
Mischa Barton Was Given The Option Of Different Cereals Or Bananas To Create The Vomit For Her Memorable Scene
Collette Would Wake Up At The Same Time Every Night While On Location
One Scene Got Cut Because It May Have Been Considered Too Frightening
A few years ago, Osment revealed in a Reddit Q&A session that he filmed a scene where his character looks out of the hospital window and sees an entire wing full of horribly disfigured people standing in the other windows, but that Shyamalan cut the scene from the finished film.
Willis’s Role Was A Departure From The Action Hero Parts He’d Become Known For
Shyamalan Deliberately Subverted Horror Film Conventions
In a 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Shyamalan said he didn’t see The Sixth Sense as a horror film.
“I took what typically would be done in a horror genre, but [did] it in [a] psychological thriller,” he told the paper, claiming the distinction between the genres mattered because “horror has its goal… as solely scares, while [The Sixth Sense] is something that’s a mystery. ‘What is that noise in the other room? I thought we were alone…’ And then there’s a mystery added: well, who’s there? And what is it? Where is this going? How does this affect the story?”
The Film Was Filmed In (Almost) Chronological Order
Shyamalan Experienced His First-Ever Hangover, Thanks To Willis
