Great Expectations

The pressure is on for Bruce Willis and director M. Night Shyamalan. The duo's highly anticipated follow-up to last year's $293-million-grossing phenomenon, The Sixth Sense, arrives in theaters on Wednesday, and you don't have to possess special powers to know that expectations are high. But the inevitable hype surrounding Unbreakable didn't dampen Willis's enthusiasm about the project.

"There was huge excitement on my part," the actor admits. "[I] couldn't wait to get started on this film. There were a lot of times in pre-production [where] I kept calling and saying, 'Come on man, let's start this thing. Let's start shooting this movie.' I don't think there was any trepidation [because The Sixth Sense] had done well financially."

Shyamalan admits that the added stress placed on him as a result of The Sixth Sense actually benefited Unbreakable. "I viewed it personally as a great opportunity and an honor to have everybody very interested in us and in the story that we're going to tell," the 29-year-old Philadelphia native explains. "I think rather than pressure, we felt a responsibility to make the very, very best film because that's what [audiences] are anticipating.

"[There will be] people that only come to the movies once a year that are going to choose our movie," he adds, "and gosh, that's a big responsibility, [so] everything needed to be at the highest level."

And whether or not Unbreakable delivers the goods at the box office, you can bet Willis and Shyamalan will meet again on the big screen — although not in the immediate future. "We don't have anything [planned] right now," Willis reveals. "[I'm] waiting for Night to go back to his desk and start writing again. But I would like to do all of my films [with him]. Unfortunately, he needs to take a little time off."