Shyamalan's "Signs" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany" Possible connection?

Cafe Society
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This is a pretty odd one, but does anyone know if “Signs” director M. Night Shyamalan has ever stated that he was influenced by John Irving’s novel “A Prayer for Owen Meany”?

I am 1/3 into rereading “Owen Meany” and am struck by three coincidences

1)The repetition of the phrase “Swing away”
“Signs”–last words of Mel Gibson’s wife “tell Merrill to swing away”, repeated in flashback several times and finally inspiring the use of a bat by Merrill to smash water glasses and thus defeat the alien

“Owen Meany” --instruction of Little League coach to Owen Meany on the occasion of his fatal foul ball which killed the narrator’s mother, repeated in flashback several times

2)The name “Merrill” with that same spelling in each

“Signs”–Merrill is Mel Gibson’s brother, the one with the bat

“Owen Meany”–Merrill is the last name of the pastor who turns out to be the narrator’s father

3)The “moral of the story” in each seems to be “strange things happen for reasons known to and decreed by God”
Anyone? Am I nuts? (I also think “Sleepless in Seattle” is a remake of “Courtship of Eddie’s Father”

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Interesting. I never would have thought of that.

II started off with a response about how I wasn’t quite convinced, but I’ve decided that yeah, you might be right. My main beef was the difference at the heart of the plot, but I think that maybe there is the similarity.

Merrill and Co. spend the movie preparing for the worst, with Merrill the eventual hero.

Owen goes through his life knowing he needs to prepare for something important (albiet in a different fashion than Merrill and Mel).

I never really liked A Prayer For Owen Meany, but that might be because I had to read it in the Worst… English Class… Ever in high school. I might have to give it a second glance.