- This article is about the proposed sequel for M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender. For the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, see The Legend of Korra.
The Last Airbender 2[1] is a proposed sequel to the live-action film The Last Airbender, following the storyline of Book Two: Earth of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Status[]
On June 24, 2009, producer Frank Marshall told the now-defunct Starlog magazine that they did not intend to film The Last Airbender and its sequels back-to-back as Peter Jackson had done with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as they were being written one-at-a-time, speculating that it would probably happen over a six year time period.[2]
With the first film grossing $319,713,881 worldwide,[3] M. Night Shyamalan said he was not aware of any "magic number" for Paramount to greenlight the sequels.[4] On October 12, 2010, Frank Marshall insisted that the sequels had not been canceled,[5] later stating on January 21, 2011, that no news concerning the potential sequels was available at that time.[6]
Christopher John Farley from The Wall Street Journal asked executive producers Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko on March 8, 2011, if they had heard anything about a sequel to the live-action movie as they were discussing the follow-up Avatar series, The Legend of Korra; DiMartino stated they had not, noting that it was "definitely not up to [them]".[7] During a subsequent interview on April 8, 2012, DiMartino and Konietzko expressed interest in having another opportunity at making a big-screen feature based on their cartoon series when they had finished The Legend of Korra, noting that they had been "honing [their] skills toward that for a long time".[8] Konietzko later clarified on Tumblr that they were "most excited at the prospect of one day making an original movie of [their] own creation, preferably animated, whether it is related to Avatar or Korra or not."[9]
Shyamalan revealed his plans for the sequels in various interviews, stating in a roundtable discussion that the plan was for him to direct all three films as contracted, though Paramount had the option to hire another director. He also revealed that he had written a first draft for the second movie that he was "really happy with", but had not "thought about how [he] would construct the third [movie] too much".[10]
Casting[]
M. Night Shyamalan suggested that an Asian actress would be cast to play Toph Beifong.
Shyamalan suggested in a roundtable discussion that he would cast an Asian actress to play Toph Beifong to maintain consistency with the Earth Kingdom characters featured in the first film:
"... Whoever I ended up with, I went that was their nationality. Suki was Jessica [Andres] who is a mix of Filipino. And now the Earth Kingdom is all Asian so Toph will have to be [Asian]. Suddenly, I was looking at the board and I thought, "this works for me", because I represented everyone. And there's a section of that's African-American cause it's such a big country and such a big land [that] I felt you could have some diversity in there as they travel through the different cities there."
On March 4, 2010, Superhero News asked Chloë Grace Moretz, who was then due to star as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl in the film Kick Ass, if she had been contacted about playing Toph, with Moretz subsequently denying on Twitter that she had been cast in the role.[11]
Milla Jovovich revealed in 2010 that she had asked her agent to make sure she got a part in "the next airbender movie", noting that she would "be really upset if [she didn't] get to be a waterbender or something".[12]
Revealed storylines[]
Shyamalan indicated in an MTV interview[1] that he envisioned the sequel as being "darker" and that the Kyoshi Warriors would likely play a larger role; scenes involving the Kyoshi Warriors were shot for the first film but ultimately not included in the movie. He also showed some pages of his draft for the sequel in the Picture-in-Picture video commentary of the first movie's Blu-ray/DVD, noting that Toph would be a big character in the second film, there would be a focus on the "Shakespearan elements" involving the Fire Nation Royal Family, and a significant amount of fighting involving Azula and her friends, Mai and Ty Lee.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix production[]
Though there is no confirmation of production of a sequel to The Last Airbender, in September 2018 it was announced that a live-action reimagining of Avatar: The Last Airbender produced by Netflix in partnership with Nickelodeon would enter production.[13] Avatar co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who were initially involved in the project, noted that they were "thrilled [...] to realize Aang's world as cinematically as [they] always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast".[14] However, they departed from the series in 2020 due to creative differences.[15] The series is scheduled to premiere on February 22, 2024 on Netflix[16] and will consist of eight episodes.[17]
References[]
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