Trap interviews: Josh Hartnett, M. Night Shyamalan, and Saleka Shyamalan on their serial killer thriller

At the start of 2023, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan secured a multi-year deal with Warner Bros., and soon after that deal was made, we heard that his first movie for Warner Bros. would be Trap, a “psychological thriller set at a concert”. That project made its way through production toward the end of last year, with lead roles going to Josh Hartnett, fresh off his appearance in Oppenheimer, and Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka. The film is now set to receive its domestic release on August 2nd – and in the build-up to that release, JoBlo’s own Eric Walkuski was able to sit down for interviews with Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, and M. Night Shyamalan! You can check them out in the video embedded above.

In these interviews, Hartnett talks about playing his homicidal character and the experience of working on the film with many extras; Saleka Shyamalan discusses composing several songs for the film; and M. Night Shyamalan talks about coming up with the idea, having fun writing the script, and what’s next for him.

Trap has a short and simple synopsis: A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.

For a better description, we turn to what JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray said about the first Trap trailer after seeing an early screening of it at CinemaCon, “Saleka plays a Taylor Swift-style pop star known as Lady Raven, with Josh Harnett’s character attending alongside his daughter. He quickly discovers that the concert is a trap designed to lure a serial killer known as The Butcher, but it turns out that Harnett is the serial killer!” We had previously heard (via FilmUpdates) that Saleka – who is an R&B singer/songwriter – plays “a popstar whose concert is at the heart of the story.” Hartnett’s character is “a father who takes his child to a concert, and unwittingly gets caught up in the surrounding events.” Saleka has recorded songs for her father’s previous projects Old and Servant, but this marks her acting debut. Hartnett has said that Trap is “very bizarre, very dark, and wild.” 

Will you be catching Trap on the big screen this weekend? Take a look at the interviews, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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