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'The Happening' Feature Round Up: M. Night Shyamalan, Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John ...

'The Happening' Feature Round Up: M. Night Shyamalan, Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo

By Hollywood.com Staff | Friday, June 13, 2008

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The Happening Movie Stills

Everyone is wondering: What's happening?!

Bold M. Night Shyamalan takes a detour from the supernatural core of his works and dives into the world of science--which could easily prove to be more frightening. With this, he brings to life an environmentalist's worst nightmare in this plausible, end-of-the-world paranoia film The Happening, in which an unexplainable force is literally taking people's breath away resulting in loss of speech...disorientation...and then death.

Several bizarre occurrences motivate science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) to grab his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and flee town. Alongside their friend Julian (John Leguizamo) they learn the cause is airborne.

In his first R-rated effort Shyamalan pushes story further, exploring the extremes of tension and terror. Real life threats intersect with Shyamalan's fantasy world, riddling moviegoers' perceptions. He describes the film as a "conscience check," asserting, "I think the audience will fill in the answers--and we don't need the movie to say 100 percent of what is going on."

For those of you who do need more answers, M. Night Shyamalan is the obvious expert. So we went straight to the source, attending a press conference at New York's Ritz Carlton where he was joined by his three lead actors, Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo.

Check out what we found out about The Happening:

The Happening Movie Stills
Interview: With M. Night - Seven Hints of What to Expect in 'The Happening'
"The movie is really about the state of where we are now in the world. The paranoia of how we feel toward each other, strangers, other countries, to everything--the sense that we don’t trust anybody. It’s kind of a delicate thing of me to go, “It’s better to protect myself ... like everybody else is.”

The Happening Movie Stills
Q&A: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo Light It Up
"I was paranoid because I was some high school dropout! I wasn’t a good student and had to portray a teacher who was actually really good at his job and the kids loved him. I didn’t tell Night that…I wasn’t sure if he knew of my background." says Wahlberg (Read story)

A scene from "The Happening"
Photo Gallery: The Happening Movie Stills
Looking at a few frames of M. Night's latest work tells us we're in for something that will jolt us--and will make us reach back to the primal fears we have inside: the fear of being alone, with no one in ear-shot to answer, "What's Happening?!" (Flip thru photos)

Mischa Barton at the New York Premiere of 'The Happening' held on 06.10.08
Photo Gallery: The Happening NYC Red Carpet Premiere
Lights, camera, carpet: They may've walked into terrifying situations in front of M. Night's rolling camera. Here, they're just stepping out on the red carpet, with a host of other celebs to join them. From M. Night to Mischa Barton, meet the cast and friends of The Happening on th red carpet. (Flip thru photos)