M Night Shyamalan ropes in Jake Gyllenhaal for new movie

LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker M Night Shyamalan is set to collaborate with Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal for his next directorial project.

The project is a supernatural romantic thriller, based on an original story co-created by Shyamalan and bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks, reported entertainment news outlet Deadline.

Shyamalan and Sparks are independently creating a screenplay and a novel, respectively, both inspired by the same original love story. Each project will feature the same core concept and characters, but will be uniquely adapted to suit its medium.

It is the first time that Shyamalan will collaborate with a high-profile writer like Sparks, known for novels like "A Walk To Remember", "The Notebook", "The Choice" and "Dear John". These books of the author and many others have been adapted into feature films as well.

The details of the project have been kept under wraps.

Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan will produce through Blinding Edge Pictures, alongside Sparks’ longtime producing partner Theresa Park and Marc Bienstock.

Shyamalan’s Blinding Edge Pictures is in discussions with Hollywood studio Warner Bros for the theatrical release of the movie.