What a twist! M. Night Shyamalan’s highly anticipated next feature film Stay had an impromptu premiere at Beyond Fest 2026 and the first reactions to the supernatural thriller have already appeared on social media.
Stay was a surprise screening at the genre festival ahead of a planned retrospective of Shyamalan’s 1998 classic The sixth sense. The filmmaker personally presented Stay at Beyond and to say that festival-goers were surprised is an understatement since his new feature film is not expected to be released theatrically by Warner Bros. before February 5, 2027. However, StayThe original release date was October 23, 2026, it was moved to closer to Valentine’s Day.
Clearly, Shyamalan and Warners are optimistic about the prospects of Stayand the early selection and hype confirms comments he made during the initial Warner Bros. presentation. Discovery to advertisers in New York earlier this year, when he admitted that Stay was “the most grueling film of my career”. The positive reaction to StayThe first trailer also suggests that Shyamalan is onto something.
Stay is a romantic supernatural thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Julie Hagerty, and tells the story of an architect recovering from depression who moves to Cape Cod and meets a mysterious woman.
Shyamalan co-created the project with best-selling The notebook And Dear John author Nicholas Sparks and Stay first appeared as the couple’s bestselling novel in 2025.
Stay is Shyamalan’s second consecutive film for Warners following 2024’s Trap which grossed $84 million at the box office on a budget of $30 million and became a memorable pop culture phenomenon.
See the first reactions to Stay below.
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