Haley Joel Osment’s Canadian comeback: ‘I’ll Follow You Down’ trailer stars the grown-up child actor

Making the leap from child star to adult actor is difficult. No matter how successful a career a young performer has, very few are able to make the transition successfully.

Remember “Sixth Sense” star Haley Joel Osment?

After the success of M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller, there was no bigger child actor in Hollywood. Osment landed major role after major role, like 2000’s “Pay It Forward,” opposite Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, the starring role in Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film “A. I. Artificial Intelligence,” and 2003’s “Secondhand Lions.” But then he pretty much disappeared from the public eye, spending much of the past decade voice acting in cartoons and video games.

Well, now Osment is back, and in a pretty big way. The actor popped up online this week in the first trailer for the Canadian sci-fi thriller "I'll Follow You Down." Osment plays Erol, the son of a scientist whose mysterious disappearance haunts his family for years. Directed by Richie Mehta ("Siddharth"), the film co-stars Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, and Victor Garber. The movie was shot in and around Toronto and premiered at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival last year.

2014 is set to be a great year for 26-year-old Osment (feeling old yet?). In addition to “I’ll Follow You Down,” the actor has starring roles in director Kevin Smith’s “Tusk,” “Chronicle” writer Max Landis’ directorial debut “Me Him Her,” and the rom-com “Sex Ed,” as well as a supporting part in the much ballyhooed “Entourage” movie - all due for release over the next year.

So can we start calling this a comeback? Maybe.

Osment is clearly eager to stretch his acting muscles in live-action productions again, and a number of established and up-and-coming filmmakers have taken a chance on the former child star by putting him in their movies. But it remains to be seen if any of these films (save for “Entourage”) will even get wide releases. Renewed success at the box office would be the true mark of a comeback, and at this point we just don’t know if “I’ll Follow You Down,” “Tusk,” or “Me Him Her” will get a major release in the United States. Osment’s career as a child star also brings with it a lot of baggage. Will audiences be able to take the kid best known for seeing dead people seriously as an adult? We’ll have to wait and see.

What do you think of Haley Joel Osment’s latest star turn in “I’ll Follow You Down”? Let us know in the comments.