The Real-Life Inspiration Behind M. Night Shyamalan's Trap

Contains spoilers for "Trap"

M. Night Shyamalan is back with "Trap," a thriller about a serial killer trying to escape from a concert venue that's packed with cops who are looking for him. Unlike some of his other fare involving ghosts, aliens, or beaches that make you old, "Trap" is fairly down to earth, so perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that at least some inspiration for the film was taken from true events. 

Shyamalan told Empire about a 1985 plan called Operation Flagship, in which the authorities contacted thousands of known fugitives to give them free football tickets and a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Around 100 of them showed up, completely oblivious to what was going on, and that's when they were apprehended. As Shyamalan put it, "The cops were literally cheerleaders and mascots. These guys were dancing as they came in. And they were all caught. It was so twisted and funny."

The whole thing is pretty hilarious when you dig into it, since U.S. marshals put more foreshadowing into their plan than, well, an M. Night Shyamalan movie. For example, the letters sent to the fugitives were addressed from I. Michael Detnaw, with that last name spelling "wanted" backward. The arrests should have been a twist as obvious as the one in the ending of Shyamalan's 2004 film, "The Village."

While M. Night Shyamalan directly cites Operation Flagship as an inspiration for "Trap," another true story also shares similarities with the film's plot. While Operation Flagship brought in fugitives wanted on narcotics and assault violations, a man named Tom Hanson tried to catch an honest-to-goodness serial killer in 1971 by holding a big premiere event for his film, "The Zodiac Killer" — a detail that David Fincher's "Zodiac" left out about the true story.

As the Zodiac Killer continued to evade police and taunt the media, Hanson came to believe he could lure the Zodiac into custody by premiering a film based on the murderer's exploits. "I shot 'Zodiac' for about 13 grand," Hanson explained to Temple of Schlock. "Nobody got paid anything. I shot it with the intention of bringing it up to San Francisco and four-walling a theater, which I did, with six guys to set a trap and catch that son of a b****." 

The premiere featured a contest in which people wrote their names on cards for a chance to win a free motorcycle, with someone checking the handwriting on the cards to see if any of them matched the Zodiac's. While the attempt was unsuccessful, Hanson claims that a man resembling the police sketches of the Zodiac used on "Wanted" posters approached him in the restroom, saying, "Y'know, real blood doesn't come out like that." Whether that part's true or not, it makes for a chilling ending to the story. 

Operation Flagship may have planted the seed for "Trap," but ultimately, it sounds as though M. Night Shyamalan wanted to work with his daughter, Saleka, who plays pop star Lady Raven in the film. She's a professional singer in real life, and Shyamalan told NPR that he wanted to do something with her talent in a movie: "She had written a few songs for a TV show," he explained. "And we said, hey, what do you think about doing a movie that's primarily about music, where the characters are listening to a whole album." The idea eventually morphed into a serial killer father taking his daughter to a concert where the FBI is waiting for him, and "Trap" was born.

Shyamalan is one of the few filmmakers working today who can get original projects off the ground, and he told Empire that he wants to keep these kinds of films going. "I want the industry to move towards more original storytelling," he said. "I think audiences would really like it ... But it's really important that we come to the movies and see something we've never seen before. I'll keep fighting for that." "Trap" is certainly a unique film, with that singular Shyamalan flair that's anchored by a strong performance from Josh Hartnett as Cooper, aka The Butcher.

Granted, the ending of "Trap" could set the stage for a follow-up. For now, however, drawing inspiration from a real-life sting operation and his daughter's singing career has resulted in one thrilling ride.