PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The Happening turned 15 this month. To celebrate PopHorror compiled a list of fun facts! The Happening follows the story of science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) as they try to elude the invisible killer in Pennsylvania’s farmland. Soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.
Fun Facts:
1) Mark Wahlberg admitted that he regrets working on this movie, but said, “You can’t blame me for wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook.”
2) M. Night Shyamalan wrote the screenplay with Mark Wahlberg in mind for the lead role. (Please tell me why this feels like such a shady move).
3) The movie was shot completely in sequence.
4) The DVD also contains a deleted scene of a piano recital that suddenly becomes tragic (captured on cellphone video), and extended, more gruesome versions of the lion attack and porch shooting scenes.
5) Mark Wahlberg’s line “Be scientific, douchebag” was improvised.
6) The film’s tagline, “We’ve sensed it. We’ve seen the signs. Now…it’s happening,” referring to M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote and directed The Sixth Sense (1999), Signs (2002), and The Happening (2008).
7) On June 8, 2008, days before the first few reviews for the film came online, M. Night Shyamalan told the New York Daily News: “We’re making an excellent B movie, that’s our goal.”
8) Bystander apathy is a real psychological phenomenon with a strong theoretical and evidential base. This was also M. Night Shyamlan’s first R-rated film.
9) The leading female character of the film: Alma, was written for the actress Amy Adams. The objective was that within the chaos and uncertainty of the film, only Alma was the one who gave the feeling of peace and tranquility, however, an economic agreement was not reached, so Adams rejected the role.
