Well, it appears we have our first outright disaster of 2013. Other movies have disappointed this year (remember a certain comedy starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey? Neither do we), but After Earth is the first summer blockbuster of the year to get absolutely ravaged by critics – and early indications suggest that the $130 million film is on pace for a $20+ million opening. With plenty of other action movies still going strong and more on the way, this could end up being Will Smith’s biggest dud since 1999’s Wild Wild West.

But look no further than the director and the results – both critical and financial – should not be surprising. Noticeably absent from After Earth‘s marketing is the fact that M. Night Shyamalan directed this glorified Will Smith movie (let’s face it, it’s a star vehicle for Smith’s son Jaden). The same M. Night Shyamalan who, after three financial and critical hits at the turn of the century/millennium, has slowly (or rapidly?) lost his ability to make good movies.

But why write anymore when we have this nice little chart, which exemplifies the sad decline of M. Night Shyamalan:

At this point, it’s hard to imagine M. Night Shyamalan ever making a good movie again. Whatever he does next, we recommend he work with Bruce Willis again. However, we don’t recommend that Bruce Willis work with him again.