A ‘Sixth Sense’ reunion? M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis reuniting for ‘Labor of Love’

When filmmakers fall on hard times, it’s not uncommon for them to return to their roots.

After a string of big budget failures, that’s exactly what “After Earth” director M. Night Shyamalan appears to be doing for his next project. According to Deadline, Shyamalan is set to reunite with actor Bruce Willis, the star of arguably the director’s two best movies: "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable."

The new film, appropriately titled “Labor of Love,” follows a man (Willis) who sets out on a cross country trek of the United States after the death of his wife. The movie is reportedly based on a script that Shyamalan sold early in his career and, much like his first two films, will probably be set and shot in Philadelphia where the director grew up. Given his recent, more fantastical work, “Labor of Love” is about as "back to basics" as Shyamalan can possibly get.

Shyamalan’s movies became famous for their twist endings, to the point where it basically became a joke. Once a darling of audiences and critics alike, the director’s fortunes have been on the decline since the failure of his 2006 pet project “Lady in the Water.”

That film’s failure didn’t prevent him from subsequently taking on mega-budget movies like “The Last Airbender” (which cost $150 million) and “After Earth” ($130 million), but even those high-profile efforts failed to connect with audiences. With the very mention of his name usually eliciting a snicker or derision, it’s safe to say Shyamalan’s glory days are well behind him at this point.

As for Willis, after some years of drifting from action movie to action movie, he too is probably looking for a bit of a change of pace. Last year, the A-list actor made waves by declaring he was "bored" of the action genre, a position that he didn't exactly adhere to by showing up in action flicks like "A Good Day to Die Hard," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," and "Red 2." As films like "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Looper" proved, though, Willis is clearly interested in doing new things. And at this point, a rematch with Shyamalan would definitely qualify.

As "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" demonstrated, the pair clearly make a great team. However, in Hollywood, it's especially difficult to recapture that kind of movie magic. Fingers crossed!

Would you watch a Willis-Shyamalan reunion? Or do you think the two should move on to different things?