Trivia for
The Sixth Sense (1999) More at IMDbPro »

• M. Night Shyamalan pitched the film as a cross between The Exorcist (1973) and Ordinary People (1980).
  
  
• Director Trademark: [M. Night Shyamalan] [twist ending]
  
  
• Director Trademark: [M. Night Shyamalan] [Home Invasion] Vincent's entering Crowe's apartment at the beginning.
  
  
• The movie's line "I see dead people" was voted as the #100 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
  
  
• The movie was rented by 80 million people in 2000 - making it the year's top-rated tape and DVD title.
  
  
• Filmed in sequence.
  
  
• The voice on the tape of Vincent's session is speaking Spanish, the person is saying: "Please, I don't want to die Lord, save me, save me."
  
  
• Is one of only four horror films to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
  
  
• Liam Aiken turned down the role of Cole Sear.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [M. Night Shyamalan] Dr. Hill, who examines Cole Sear after the "accident" at the birthday party.
  
  
• Opened on M. Night Shyamalan's birthday.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [M. Night Shyamalan] [car accident] Cole tells his mother about his powers while they're stuck in traffic because of a car accident.
  
  
• When Cole and his mother are sitting in the kitchen, there is a glass on the table that you can only get in Philadelphia. It originally comes filled with Penn Maid sour cream which is not readily available anywhere else.
  
  
• Reputedly, Haley Joel Osment got the role of Cole Sear for one of three reasons: First, he was best for it. Second, he was the only boy at auditions who wore a tie. Third, M. Night Shyamalan was surprised when he asked Haley Joel Osment if he read his part. Osment replied, "I read it three times last night." Shyamalan was impressed saying, "Wow, you read your part three times?" To which Osment replied, "No, I read *the script* three times."
  
  
• According to M. Night Shyamalan, Donnie Wahlberg lost 43 pounds for the role.
  
  
• The movie's line "I see dead people." was voted as the #44 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
  
  
• The Latin phrase Cole speaks in the church when he first meets Malcolm: "De profundis clamo ad te domine" translates to "Out of the depths, I cry to you, Oh Lord." These are the first few words of Psalm 130 in the Book of Psalms.
  
  
• In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #89 Greatest Movie of All Time. This was one of the newest entries on the list (from films which were released between 1997 and 2005).
  
  
• Toni Collette has said that she was so moved by the emotional resonance of the story whilst filming, she didn't even realize it was a horror film until after its release.
  
  
• M. Night Shyamalan wrote the role of Malcolm Crowe with Bruce Willis in mind.
  
  
• A lot of the members of M. Night Shyamalan family are doctors. This is the reason why he cameos as a doctor, as a tribute to his family.
  
  
• Although Cole is supposed to be 9, Haley Joel Osment was actually 11.
  
  

• SPOILER: According to M. Night Shyamalan, the movie was inspired by an episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" (1991) called "Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Tale of the Dream Girl (#3.10)" (1994) directed by David Winning in which leading characters are ignored by somebody and don't realize that they are dead until the final moment. In The Tale of the Dream Girl, a brother discovers that only his sister can see him and she ultimately shows him his own obituary.
  
  
• SPOILER: While circling a passage in the notes, Bruce Willis does so with his right hand. Willis is actually left-handed; he learned how to write right-handed so that viewers wouldn't notice that his wedding band was no longer on his hand.
  
  
• SPOILER: M. Night Shyamalan deliberately used the color red to depict when the world of the living and the world of the dead would crossover. If red was in a scene where that was not the case, he would change it. The scenes where he used this are: Lynn Sear's nail polish is red when she is pointing out the "white spots" on all the pictures of Cole in the hallway. We are led to believe those spots are the dead people that are always seeking his help; At the birthday party when Cole is put into the closet, he is wearing a red sweater. Cole is attacked by the spirit in the closet; The blanket covering Cole's fort is red. Kyra Collins comes to him because she wants him to save her sister from her own fate; The doorknob to Malcolm's basement is red. His wife keeps on locking it but he just unlocks it; The blanket that Anna Crowe covers herself with while watching the wedding video is red. Malcolm sits next to her and tries talking to her but she is sleeping and unconsciously speaking aloud; Cole's school uniform jacket is red(maroon). He is usually approached by the dead people while at school and/or wearing his uniform. -When Cole and his mom are in traffic due to a car accident, Lynn is wearing a red sweater. This is when the dead woman cyclist comes to Cole's window and Cole tells her about the bumble bee pin and how his grandmother visits him; Kyra Collins' mother is wearing a red dress at the funeral. This is to show her guilty involvement in her daughter's death and how Malcolm and Kyra are at the house.
  
  
• SPOILER: In the scene when Cole says the famous line "I see dead people", the camera does a closeup on Bruce Willis face. Producer Frank Marshall was worried that might have given the game away. It implied that Malcolm was a dead person. Fortunately, none of the audiences in the test screenings or afterwards picked up on it.
  
  

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