Josh Hartnett's Great Career Renaissance: The Lead Role in M. Night Shyamalan's New Movie

The Casting of M. Night Shyamalan's New Movie

The cast of M. Night Shyamalan's new movie Trap includes an actor who had a surprisingly great career renaissance in 2023. The thriller movie director known for his twists returns with another new movie in 2024. Trap is a new psychological thriller movie by Shyamalan, and while plot details are still rather mysterious, it is known that it takes place at a concert. Fresh off the moderately positive reception of Knock at the Cabin, there are plenty of reasons to be excited to see what the talented director has up his sleeve next. While M. Night Shyamalan is a recognizable name, he routinely attracts notable stars to his works.

Josh Hartnett looking serious in Oppenheimer

After working with Dave Bautista and Jonathan Groff in Knock at the Cabin or Gael Garc\u00eda Bernal and Vicky Krieps in Old, the excitement about seeing who would be in Trap is understandable. However, the movie does not have a cast list with the same level of name recognition attached to it. There's no one close to Bruce Willis, Will Smith, or Samuel L. Jackson's stature, while even rising stars similar to Anya Taylor-Joy or Thomasin McKenzie are nowhere to be found. There might not be the traditional star power attached to Trap, but M. Night Shyamalan's movie is still continuing a great acting renaissance.

Ethan Chandler (Josh Harnett) looking confused in Penny Dreadful

Josh Hartnett Stars In M. Night Shyamalan's Trap After His Great 2023 Renaissance

The lead role in Trap will be played by Josh Hartnett, who is taking on the psychological thriller after a stellar 2023 that saw him return to prominence. After being viewed as a major rising star in the early 2000s, Josh Hartnett largely disappeared from Hollywood, especially major productions and leading roles. 2023 was a noticeable shift for him that capitalized with a standout performance in Oppenheimer. His role as Ernest Lawrence in Christopher Nolan's movie was a significant moment for him, as it brought him back to blockbuster filmmaking for the first time in years.

Oppenheimer was one of four notable appearances that Josh Hartnett made in 2023 movies or TV shows that helped announce the former heartthrob was very much back in the mix. His other roles include a supporting appearance in Guy Ritchie's Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, playing himself in the Die Hart movie, and appearing in Black Mirror season 6. Instead of 2023 proving to be a bit of a fluke in terms of how much exposure Josh Hartnett gets, his role in M. Night Shyamalan's Trap confirms that audiences will continue to see more of him in rather significant and high-profile productions.

Trap Is Josh Hartnett's Biggest Role In 7 Years

By joining the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, Josh Hartnett is set to have his biggest role in seven years. Even with the amount of projects he was part of in 2023, none of them gave him a true leading role. Trap is poised to do that it seems, marking the first time Hartnett has played a leading role in a major project since Penny Dreadful. The show came to an end after three successful seasons in 2016. While he appeared in various smaller projects since then and had important roles in the 2023 movies and shows, Trap is going to give Hartnett a chance to truly shine.