The Last Airbender Update: Shyamalan Currently Editing

Source: http://screenrant.com/the-last-airbender-update-m-night-shyamalan-editing-ross-29713/

The last time we posted about M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming cartoon-to-movie adaptation, The Last Airbender, producer Frank Marshall said that, “all is well in post [production]“ and that we would see a (full) trailer around Christmas. But according to one of the film’s stars, Aasif Mandvi, the Sixth Sense director is most likely, “pulling his hair out in the editing room.”

Of course, Andvi isn’t Shyamalan, so I’m sure it’s just his best guesstimate - plus, the actor says stressing out in the editing phase is part of the usual process. However, I imagine Andvi’s not that far off, since The Last Airbender is by far the biggest project Shyamalan has ever done as a director who is accustomed to smaller, more intimate films where subtle character interaction prevails over special effects and action (for example: one of the only fight scenes Shyamalan has ever shot up until this point was towards the end of Unbreakable).



Andvi went on to talk to MTV about the visuals and action that will be in The Last Airbender - “There’s a lot of martial arts, there’s a lot of really cool special effects and CGI and action.” But he was quite reserved with the details, saying that, “it’s going to look really cool, and I know what it’s going to look like and I’m not telling you!” Oh, c’mon, pretty please! No? Oh well…

However, Andvi did go on to talk about another aspect of the film - working with Slumdog Millionaire star, Dev Patel. Here’s what he had to say - “He’s a black belt… That kid knows his martial arts, so they needed to help me. I was the old guy on set who was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here.’ He taught me how to cheat at ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire… That’s really all he taught me.”

If you want, you can head over to MTV Splash Page to watch the video of Andvi talking about The Last Airbender.

In case, like me, you’re not familiar with the story of The Last Airbender (the original cartoon is called Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the name had to be changed when James Cameron and his ideas came along…), here’s the general lowdown thanks to MTV Splash Page:

“In the fantastical world of “Airbender,” there are four tribes-Air, Water, Earth and Fire-each of which can control one of the four elements. The Fire folks have been waging an incessant war against the other nations, when a young child named Aang (12-year-old newcomer Noah Ringer) discovers he’s the only person on the planet who has the ability to manipulate all four elements and, perhaps, bring lasting peace to the land.”

Since I’m not familiar with the original cartoon series, I can’t speak about whether or not it works in that context, nor if the above premise for the movie follows the series to the letter (Shyamalan has said in the past that he planned to stay true to the fans and the source material). But the premise to me sounds like it has great potential as a fantasy-action film, with my anticipation only heightened by the first teaser trailer that was released (I wasn’t expecting it to impress me but it REALLY did).

However, the thing I’m most interested in about this project is the fact that M. Night Shyamalan has written and directed it. As I said, he’s used to smaller films that are certainly not as fantastical in nature as The Last Airbender. I’ll be interested to see if the genre is a strength for Shyamalan, and if he’ll redeem himself after the last three or four disappointing (to say the least) cinematic outings. The elements are all there (get it?) and I hope Shyamalan gets the most out of them.

Are you a fan of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series, and if so does it seem like they’re sticking to the story? And if you’re not a fan originally, do you like the sound of the film?

The Last Airbender is scheduled to hit theaters on July 2nd in the U.S., and on August 13th in the UK, both in 2010.

‘The Last Airbender’ Full Movie Trailer May Arrive In December

source: http://ontheflix.com/2009/09/04/the-last-airbender-full-movie-trailer-may-arrive-in-december/ by andre@ontheflix

According to Aceshowbiz, Frank Marshall who is the producer for M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender” movie, tweeted that they are currently working on a full trailer for the movie,set for a December release.

He wrote, “For those of you wondering about LAST AIRBENDER, all is well in post and we r working on a trailer for Xmas.” To which movie it will be attached remains undisclosed, but there is possibility that “Sherlock Holmes” will be the one.”

“The Last Airbender” is set to hit theaters on July 2,2010. It’s a live action film version of Nickelodeon’s animated show. They dropped the name “Avatar” from its title, to differentiate the two from James Cameron’s “Avatar” movie.

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Jackson Rathbone's film 'The Last Airbender' might've been fight training enough for 'Eclipse'

From: http://www.examiner.com by Amanda Bell

The Twilight Saga: New Moon star Jackson Rathbone might've gotten all the fight training he needed for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in filming his M. Night Shyamalan movie The Last Airbender.

He sat down with MTV to discuss The Last Airbender, and had a lot of very interesting things to say about the physical activity that he was responsible for in bringing his character Sokka to the big screen - especially when it came to fight sequences.

Jasper is so composed and kind of holding it all back, so getting to play a character where I can just run into people was great! I got to do this fight scene where I get attacked by three different people at the same time; I’m running through a battle trying to find my little sister, worried about where she is, and this guy charges me with a sword! So, I make the split decision to just tackle him, take him straight to the ground, and then someone else comes behind me and tries to slash me in the back - so I pull that guy over me, and he hits his own guy.

This sort of triple threat scenario is exactly what we should expect when it comes to some of Jasper's flashback sequences in Eclipse. Not to mention, when he joins his Cullen family members and the wolfpack on the battlefield with Victoria's newborn army, he will be the ringleader in waging war upon the looming threat issued by many other vampires.

That said, perhaps Rathbone isn't suffering the same issues of endurance mentioned by his co-star Ashley Greene and others as a consequence of the recent fight training they were subjected to. In either case, since The Last Airbender and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse open back to back in the summer of 2010, it seems we'll get a double dose of Rathbone in action - literally.

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Bending the Elements

Here's a cool pics where I think they show the different kinds of Bending.


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Mug Shots of the Principal cast

Check out Aang, Zuko, Katara and Sokka. (click the pics to enlarge)


What do you think?

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No Back-to-Back Shooting for 'The Last Airbender' Trilogy

from: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00025456.html



Producer Frank Marshall has ruled out the likelihood of 'The Last Airbender' trilogy being shot back-to-back, stating that each of the movies will be written and filmed one at a time.

The planned trilogy of "The Last Airbender" won't be filmed back-to-back and may take as long as six years to complete. Speaking up about the matter was producer Frank Marshall who told Starlog that the filmmakers will be working on the trilogy project one by one. "We're shooting them one at a time, because they're being written one at a time," insisted the five-time Academy Award-nominated producer.

Ruling out the possibility for the three parts of "Airbender" shot like Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings", Marshall noted that director/scribe M. Night Shyamalan is currently in the process of developing the second film. "Night is now working on the script for the second movie, but he hasn't had time to write the second or third ones," he explained. "He's looking at the arc of all three."

"One of the things we'll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three," Marshall further elaborated. "We're not waiting. There just isn't enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we'll prepare for the next one. I think it'll probably happen over six years."

As for the first film itself, Marshall has taken it into his Twitter account to confirm about the inclusion of living Sky Bison named Appa as well as Aang's pet winged lemur, Momo, in the movie. "I can confirm the Aapa and Momo will be in THE LAST AIRBENDER," he wrote on a message dated June 29.

Slated for July 2, 2010 U.S. release, "The Last Airbender" is a live-action film version of Nickelodeon's animated series of the same name. To be differentiated from James Cameron's "Avatar", it has dropped "Avatar" from its title. The film follows Aang and is set in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.

With the help of a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. But, his goal will meet a tough challenge from exiled Fire Nation's evil prince Zuko who is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne. It stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Dev Patel as Zuko, Nicola Peltz as Katara and Jackson Rathbone as Sokka.

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Shyamalan Tells Us His Plot For Avatar The Last Airbender

by: jman1977
from: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/LetsCutTheBS/news/?a=8235

Shyamalan Sensitive to Source Material of Avatar The Last Airbender

Night says he was very careful with the way he is handling the series plot points, not only out of respect for the source material but for also the respect of the fans, namely his daughter.
Lets be honest M. Night Shyamalan is not the first director who comes to mind when thinking about who should direct Avatar The Last Airbender. In fact he is almost the last director. It is well known that M. Night does not like to use action in his movies, he prefers to build on the anticipation of action and then at the end it kind of whimpers out. At least that's how it was in Lady of The Lake and The Village. Well with Avatar the successful director has no choice but to incorporate action into this film or it will bomb worse then a fat kid in Math class.

"It felt like an important movie to make," Shyamalan states. "The mythology of the series was so well thought out and has Buddhism and martial arts and… it has the deeper issues at its core. It's going to be a really fun summer movie, but underneath it there is a seriousness that talks about genocide and balance in the world and all the things that interest me that you've seen in other movies I've made."

I am glad he is taking this film seriously, but like I said M. Night you have to use action elements. This movie screams for some slow motion shots of Katara bending a drop pail of water and throwing it at the fire nation. Or Aang and Apa taking on a few of those Fire Nation ships that were introduced in the most recent trailer for the film.

Night says he was very careful with the way he is handling the series plot points, not only out of respect for the source material but for also the respect of the fans, namely his daughter. Nights daughter is rumored to be Avatar Obsessed. Which is good for us fans too. Night has also made the comment that he has put twice the work already into this film then he has had to do with his previous films. This statement gives me hope.

Noah Ringer (at 12, is already a bad ass black belt in Taekwondo) plays Aang the air bender, Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) and Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Cullen of Twilight fame) play friends Katara and Sokka, while Dev Patel in his first post Slumdog Millionaire role plays the evil Prince Zuko.

Patel goes on to say: "I wanted to do something as distant to Slumdog as possible," What's more different than playing a prince of a fairy tale nation who can control fire? I wanted to stretch myself as an actor. This guy in a nutshell, he's a villain with a heart. He's not evil for the sake of being evil."

Patel underwent martial arts and fight training for his action sequences. "They whipped my butt into shape," he states. Thank god.

Other cast include Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) as the Fire Nation Commander Shao, and Shaun Toub (Iron Man) as Uncle Iroh.

So Comic Book Movie Fans, what say you? Does it sound like M. Night Shyamalan has his head screwed on right? Or do you think we will get another hyped up movie only to disapoint with a lackluster ending?

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Teaser Trailer (must see)

Even thou its still atleast 12 months till showing, M. Night gave us sneak peek of the Last Airbender



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Teaser Poster

The very first of the many poster of M. Night Shyamalan: The Last Air Bender
Very Cool teaser, we can see all of the 4 tribes symbols - The Air, Water, Earth and Fire.


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Cast of The Last Airbender announce

Official Cast:


Noah Ringer as Aang
a 12 year-old "Avatar" whose main duties are to protect the world and bend all four elements. He is fun-loving and carefree and would rather have fun than assume his responsibilities.






Nicola Peltz as Katara
The last remaining waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. She is Aang's good friend and love interest.









Jackson Rathbone as Sokka
a 15 year old warrior from the Southern Water Tribe and Katara's brother.









Dev Patel as Prince Zuko
a 16 year old prince who travels with his uncle and tries to capture the Avatar in order to regain his honor and position as heir to the Fire Nation throne.








Aasif Madvi as Admiral Zhao
a hot-tempered Fire Nation Commander in pursuit of the Avatar. He is Zuko's principal rival.





Shaun Toub as Uncle Iroh
an older man who is extremely easy-going and friendly and often acts as a surrogate father to his nephew, Zuko.








Cliff Curtis as Fire Lord Ozai
the leader of the war and the Fire Nation. He is the primary antagonist in the series.








Jessica Andres as Suki
the leader of the young female warriors of Kyoshi Island, The Kyoshi Warriors. She is a friend to Aang and one of Sokka's love interests.





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M. Night to Direct, Produce and Write the Last Airbender

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Night_Shyamalan

On January 8, 2007, it was announced that Shyamalan would write, direct and produce the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated TV series on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon, a series influenced by Asian art, mythology and various martial-arts fighting styles. The movie will be produced for Paramount Pictures' MTV Films and Nick Movies. The trade paper Variety later reported Shyamalan would film Avatar after The Happening.

According to an interview with the co-creators in SFX Magazine, Shyamalan came across Avatar when his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween. Intrigued, Shyamalan researched and watched the series with his family. "Watching Avatar has become a family event in my house ... so we are looking forward to how the story develops in season three," said Shyamalan. "Once I saw the amazing world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film."According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Shyamalan will begin filming Avatar: The Last Airbender in May 2009; he will need four or five huge soundstages in the Philadelphia area to produce this film.[41] On April 15, 2008, Paramount and Nickelodeon announced the official title for the film will be The Last Airbender. Also announced was the release date, July 2, 2010. The Last Airbender is currently the only movie announced for the July 4th holiday weekend of that year.

Controversy quickly arose over the casting of the film, an all-white cast for a predominantly Asian-themed show. The casting of these white actors triggered negative fan reaction marked by accusations of racism and a letter-writing campaign. On Martin Luther King Day, Derek Kirk Kim wrote a negative response to thae allegedly racist casting, saying, "What if someone made a “fantasy” movie in which the entire world was built around African culture. Everyone is wearing ancient African clothes, African hats, eating traditional African food, writing in an African language, living in African homes, all encompassed in an African landscape...but everyone is white." Actor Jackson Rathbone dismissed the complaints, saying "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

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