Warner Bros. recently released the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's Trap, a mystery thriller starring Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Marnie McPhail.

The film's logline describes the story as a “father and teen daughter attending a pop concert, where they realize they're at the center of a dark and sinister event.” The trailer premiered at the recent CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

Trapped in a pop concert

The trailer starts with Hartnett's character and his daughter, Riley, are attending pop star Lady Raven's (Shyamalan) concert. When he excuses himself to go to the bathroom, he asks a popcorn vendor about the heavy police presence. That's when he learns that there are there to catch the serial killer, the Butcher.

And here's the Shyamalan twist: Hartnett is the killer they're looking for. When he checks his phone, we see him watching a video of his victim in chains. The trailer ends with Hartnett staring dead-eyed into the camera and then maniacally laughing.

The movie's trailer was also teased at The Summer of Shyamalan in Los Angeles. During the event, the writer-director spoke about the film as well as The Watchers, which he also produced.

The Watchers was written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, the filmmaker's daughter. In Trap, the pop star is played by his other daughter, singer-songwriter Saleka. She also wrote a few songs for the movie.

Shyamalan said that part of what appealed to him about the movie was telling the story “from the vantage point of an unexpected person” — the killer.

“It kind of led more and more to this dark humor angle that ‘Servant' had and ‘The Visit' and ‘Split' had,” he said.

The filmmaker added that he has embraced that tone “and making sure it's a fun time for everybody. It's odd … when you should be terrified and you're laughing at the same time.”

Shyamalan talked about casting Hartnett in the role. The actor recently made a comeback to acting by being in Black Mirror and Oppenheimer.

The Josh Harnett Comeback

Josh Hartnett surrounded by piles of cash.

The director said that likes working outside of Hollywood conventions, making movies in a “small, reasonable” way. He stated that he was looking for someone who was willing to “just let go completely, give themselves over like a play to the movie and leap, leap, leap — don't protect yourself.”

“That beautiful electricity that requires the right actor at the right time in their life. And that's where Josh was when I met him,” Shyamalan explained.

“It was just a feeling of the right person at the right time. I just had the most wonderful time working with him,” he continued.

Hartnett's comeback is in full force after being in the cast of the Academy Award-winning movie Oppenheimer. Aside from Trap, he has the action movie Fight or Flight in post-production.

Trap will be released in cinemas on Aug. 9. Watch the trailer below.