M. Night Shyamalan’s Nicholas Sparks Adaptation Remain Starring Jake Gyllenhaal Set for 2027 Release

M. Night Shyamalan has never stopped making movies. But his recent work has lived in the shadow of the films that made him one of Hollywood’s best-known directors.

After The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs, he made a string of increasingly divisive projects. His newer thrillers have struggled to match the same cultural reach. Old was an intriguing but uneven high-concept thriller. Knock at the Cabin drew a stronger critical response but stayed relatively modest at the box office. The 2024 film Trap was another deliberately strange experiment that split audiences.

Something new is coming early next year, and it could take Shyamalan back to familiar ground: supernatural mysteries, romance and eerie small-town secrets.

The film is Remain, an unusual collaboration between Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks, the prolific romance novelist behind The Notebook. The first teaser trailer has now arrived, and the movie looks like a return to the supernatural storytelling that made Shyamalan a household name.

Remain is not a straightforward adaptation of a Sparks novel. It began as an original story developed by Sparks and Shyamalan together. Sparks then wrote the novel version, while Shyamalan wrote the screenplay and directed the film.

So the book came first. Even so, Hollywood did not simply buy a bestseller and adapt it.

What is Remain about?

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Tate Gordon, a reclusive architect who arrives in a small coastal town to work on his latest project. There he meets Wren, played by Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton, an alluring young woman who draws him out of his shell. The teaser shows the two playing board games, spending time together and falling in love. But the story is not a simple romance.

Wren’s seemingly idyllic life hides a much darker reality. Tate soon gets caught up in a mystery hanging over the town. The trailer shifts from romance into something far more unsettling, hinting at a secret that threatens to pull the couple into a supernatural nightmare.

The film is billed as a supernatural romance, with a mystery at its center. Audiences will likely spend the first half wondering what they are watching before Shyamalan starts pulling back the curtain.

The Remain book received mixed reviews

The novel version of Remain came out in 2025, giving readers an early look at the story. Reviews were mixed. Most praised the book’s atmospheric blend of romance, mystery and supernatural horror, but criticized its rushed romance and predictable mystery. The result is essentially The Notebook meets The Sixth Sense, which pairs Sparks’ emotional storytelling with Shyamalan’s supernatural sensibilities.

That mix may be what makes Remain intriguing. It is a love story with a ghostly mystery underneath, and its supernatural elements are rooted in grief, loss and human connection. Judging by the first teaser, Shyamalan is leaning into that combination, and it gives him a chance to return to the mysterious storytelling behind some of his biggest hits.

Remain arrives in theaters across North America on Feb. 5, 2027. Its international release begins Feb. 3.

Related reading: M. Night Shyamalan’s cameos ranked in order of importance

Source: Polygon