In the wake of tepid movie reviews, M. Night Shyamalan is playing down expectations for The Happening.

“I wanted it to be a fantastic, fun B-movie,” Shyamalan told Reuters about his latest film. “The number-one thing is I want people to say: ‘That was a really fun B-movie.’”

As for his motivation in writing the flick, the director said:

“There’s so many things to be paranoid about right now. I was so clear about what kind of movie I was making,” adding that he hopes viewers will wonder if the plot “could really happen.”

What do you think: Is Shyamalan being sincere? Or just playing down expectations for a film that appears headed for a flop?

In case you haven’t seen any previews for The Happening, this is M. Night Shyamalan’s first-ever R-rated movie. But does that mean it’s actually worth your time and money.

Let’s see what various film critics have to say about that…

- The movie seems more like a ’50s science fiction film of extreme paranoia or an episode of “The Twilight Zone” that even at a swiftly paced 90 minutes feels padded… — Hollywood Reporter

- The movie demonstrates a smart movie geek’s obsession with the rhythms and gory details of horror storytelling, undermined by a pompous insistence on spiritual lessons of the tritest kind… — Entertainment Weekly

- Sadly for Mr. Shyamalan, the ideas that have been coming to him since his brilliant first hit, The Sixth Sense, are progressively worthy of less merit and more deserving of ridicule… — Urban Cinefile

- It’s a shame that the movie is such a tonal failure, because it does many other things right… — Las Vegas Weekly

On June 13, we’ll find out just what’s happening.

As usual, M. Night Shyamalan isn’t about to reveal what his latest movie about. But here’s a look at a few photos from The Happening at least. It stars Mark Wahlberg as a teacher, husband and father.

Click on the following thumbnails to see larger pictures from The Happening:

The Happening opens this June. It’s the latest, creepy creation from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan.

Here’s the international movie poster for the film. Don’t worry if you can’t understand the tag line on it…

On June 13, movie goers must ready themselves for The Happening. It’s the latest film from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan and it stars Mark Wahlberg.

Check out the trailer now:

Mark Wahlberg has worked with Jonathan Demme, Paul Thomas Anderson, Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese.

But the former rapper is really excited to work with his next director, M. Night Shyamalan.

“The first scene we shot was a five-page scene in a classroom that any other director I’ve worked with would have taken three days to shoot, but we shot it by lunch,” Wahlberg said about his work with Shyamalan on The Happening.

“It’s beautiful. I’ve never walked into a trailer where your sides are there and your storyboards are there for the day. He just knows what he wants.”

And we love seeing what the director wants on screen… ignoring the piece of junk that was The Lady in the Water.

Set amidst a worldwide catastrophe that has the planet fighting back against humanity, infecting people with a neurotoxin which makes them want to kill themselves, Wahlberg insisted The Happening is more character study than apocalyptic vision.

“My wife, played by Zooey Deschanel, is a therapist. The movie is about our relationship and the conflicts we’re having set [amid] this kind of horrific disaster,” Wahlberg said. “I play kind of a nerdy science teacher from Philadelphia - the best teacher you’ve ever seen, but I have difficulties in being the man she wants me to be. I am extremely positive and optimistic and she’s the opposite.”