October 13, 2025
Kris Craig/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
M. Night Shyamalan will direct and co-create a TV series based on the Magic 8 Ball toy. The project is one of several that Mattel is producing following its 'Barbie' blockbuster.
For his next project, M. Night Shyamalan is peering inside the Magic 8 Ball.
The filmmaker will direct a live-action series based on the fortune-telling Mattel toy, Variety reported Monday. Shyamalan will also serve as co-creator with Brad Falchuk, who is writing the TV show. Falchuk previously created "American Horror Story," "Glee" and "Scream Queens" with Ryan Murphy.
Shyamalan, who grew up in the Penn Valley section of Lower Merion and now lives with his family on an estate in Willistown, Chester County, teased the series via an Instagram post of the screenplay for the pilot episode. A Magic 8 Ball rests atop it.
"Been working on this for a couple years… Who’s in? #ItIsCertain #Magic8Ball 🎱," he wrote.
Little else is known about the project, which will be Shyamalan's first foray into television since "Servant." The show, which ran for four seasons on AppleTV+, was set and shot in Philadelphia. It sparked a multi-million dollar lawsuit that concluded earlier this year.
Mattel has been developing several projects based on its toys since the success of "Barbie." The company, which will produce the Magic 8 Ball series, also has movies centered on Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Polly Pocket and the Masters of the Universe action figures in the works.
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