M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan is back in the director's chair this week as he directs Will and Jaden Smith in science fiction film After Earth.
This is the first film for Shyamalan since The Last Airbender as he is looking to recapture some of the critical and commercial success he enjoyed at the beginning of his career.
It was back in 1992 when Shyamalan directed, wrote, produced and appeared in Praying With Anger while he was still a student at NYU.
The movie was shown predominantly on the festival circuit but over the years it has gained a cult following.
Wide Awake followed in 1998 but it was his 1999 movie The Sixth Sense that was the big breakthrough for Shyamalan.
Starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment and followed a child psychologist who tries to help a troubled young boy who claims he can see dead people.
Shyamalan delivered a movie that was packed with tension and intrigue at every turn - not to mention there was a fantastic twist at the end of the film.
The Sixth Sense was both a critical hit and commercial smash and really put Shyamalan on the map as a filmmaker.
In 2000 Shyamalan reunited with Willis as wrote, produced and directed Unbreakable; Samuel L. Jackson was also on the cast list.
Unbreakable was another tense thriller that followed David Dunn (Willis); who discovers something incredible about himself after an accident.
While The Sixth Sense was the breakthrough film for Shyamalan this was the movie that cemented him as a director to really keep an eye on.
Two years later Shyamalan was back as he brought Signs to the big screen - a movie that saw him team up with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.
Signs marked Shyamalan's first real foray into science fiction and followed the Hess family, who find themselves doing battle with aliens.
But Signs is an much about faith and the importance of family as it is about alien invasion.
Signs marked a trio of box office hits for Shyamalan and became the second most successful film for the director behind The Sixth Sense.
The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs marked the peak of Shyamalan's directing career and since then he has struggled to repeat that success.
The Village was released in 2004 and while it did okay at the box office it received mixed reviews from the critics.
Following movies Lady In The Water and The Happening proved to be real low points in the director's career as they both failed to make am impression with critics and audiences.
The Last Airbender saw Shyamalan took another critical mauling as he developed a live action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
But this week he is looking to get his career back on track with After Earth; a film that sees him return to the science fiction genre.
He works with both Will and Jaden Smith for the first time as the pair play father and son stranded on a planet that has evolved to kill.
Shyamalan is set to move into TV with new project Wayward Pines while he is also considering an Unbreakable sequel.
After Earth is out now.
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