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The Last Airbender

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The Last Airbender
General Information
Based on

Book 1: Water

Directed by

M. Night Shyamalan

Produced by

M. Night Shyamalan
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Mike DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Sam Mercer

Written by

M. Night Shyamalan
Mike DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko

Starring

Noah Ringer
Jackson Rathbone
Nicola Peltz
Dev Patel

Music by

James Newton Howard

Distributed by

Nickelodeon

Release Information
Release Date(s)

(USA)
July 2, 2010

Rated

N/A

Running Time

N/A

Budget

$350 million for entire trilogy

Gross Revenue

N/A

Film Guide
Followed by

The Last Airbender 2

The Last Airbender is an upcoming film adaptation of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is the first part of a planned movie trilogy adapting the three seasons of the animated series. It will be marketed and released in joint effort by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. The films will be directed and screenplayed by M. Night Shyamalan. The title of the film in Europe is The Legend of Aang. Filming began in mid-March 2009, and the release date is scheduled for July 2, 2010.

The film adaptations have been received with criticism by some fans and supporters over the racial ethnicity of the main cast, sparking accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign and a protest.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.

[edit] Casting

While the majority of the cast has not yet been revealed, a number of cast members have been confirmed from official sources:

[edit] Casting Rumors

  • The actor and pop singer Jesse McCartney was in talks to play Zuko, but he was recast due to touring dates.[1]
  • It was rumored that Jason Isaacs would reprise his role as Zhao, though it later proved incorrect when Aasif Mandvi was officially announced to take the role.
  • Isaac Jin Solstein, 10 year old Korean-American actor trained in Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do was announced by Paramount to be playing an "Earthbending Boy." This is rumored to possibly be Haru or a young Bumi. Isaac's father, Eric Solstein, described the young boy’s role as being "pretty high up on the cast list" and believes "most fans will be able to guess what character from the original cartoon that might represent." If Isaac is playing Haru, this would possibly mean "Earthbending Father" played by Keong Sim would be Tyro, Haru's father.[2]
  • Randall Duk Kim is rumored to be cast in the film, though is only credited as an "Old Man in Temple" (rumored to be Shyu) according to IMDB.
  • Julio Neira has been credited in the film simply as "Monk", possibly Monk Gyatso. According to an extra from the film, Gyatso will indeed be included in the film, and be played by a younger actor.
  • According to IMDB, stunt person Ben Cooke has been casted as Avatar Roku.
  • Dee Bradley Baker has been cast as the voice of Appa and Momo according to IMDB.

[edit] Production

Filming of the movie.

On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they have signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series; the first of these films will be a faithful adaptation of the main characters' adventures in Book One. The film was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership, which resulted in the film being titled The Last Airbender.

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." He added he was attracted to the spiritual and martial arts influences on the show.

Avatar co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko came forward to voice their opinion within an interview regarding M. Night Shyamalan writing, directing and producing the film. The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material. M. Night Shyamalan said he will write the second film while preparing to shoot the first. James Newton Howard, who has composed all of Shyamalan's films since The Sixth Sense, will compose the music for The Last Airbender.

In Spring 2008, open auditions for the main characters were announced. Open tryouts for the part of Aang were held on October 18. On December 10, the names of potential actors were released. Shyamalan offered the roles of Aang to Tae Kwon Do-trained Texan Noah Ringer; Sokka to Jackson Rathbone; Katara to Nicola Peltz; and Zuko to Jesse McCartney. In February 2009, Dev Patel replaced McCartney, whose tour dates conflicted with a boot camp scheduled for the cast to train in martial arts. Further casting choices were released in March 2009: Aasif Mandvi will play Admiral Zhao, Shaun Toub will play Uncle Iroh, Cliff Curtis will play Fire Lord Ozai, Keong Sim has been cast in the role of an "Earthbending Father" and Isaac Jin Solstein will play an "Earthbending Boy." Katharine Houghton will play Kanna, Seychelle Gabriel will play Princess Yue, and Suki will be played by actress Jessica Jade Andres.

Producer Frank Marshall stated the film release may be moved to later in 2010 or even to early 2011. The budget for the films has been given in various sources as $250 million. Frank Marshall has clarified that this amount is the budget for the entire trilogy[3], and that they are spending a greater than average portion of it on the first film to "create the world."[4] Paramount Pictures has budgeted an estimated $350 million for the entire trilogy. The first movie will be made with $100 to $130 million.

In 2009, an unofficial Last Airbender fan site was published. Currently, it contains first-seen images of Zuko and Aang, as well as Photoshop mock-up of the Water Tribe seas in the banner.[5]

As stated by John Zdon, Airbender's film camp is "like a carnival".[6]

In the same year, rumors occurred of a leaked CGI teaser trailer for the film. Producer Frank Marshall cleared these rumors stating that that was a test for Nickelodeon and not the base for future promotional material, including theatrical and teaser trailers.[7]

In July of the same year, it was announced that Spin Master, a toy production company, would produce and distribute official toys based on the movie.[8] And that both a manga prequel and adaptation of the film will be published by Del Rey Manga.[9]

In August of 2009, a leaked copy of a draft script appeared on the Internet.[10] It contained information of a Dragon Spirit talking to Aang about the Fire Nation and the War. Producer Frank Marshall claimed, via Twitter, that the script didn't seem to be real to him.[11] Soon later, KISS bassist, Gene Simmons, confirmed on his website that he was voicing the Dragon Spirit.[12]

[edit] Filming and Sets

One of many sets

Filming began March 2009 in Ilulissat, Greenland, and returned in April to Philadelphia. One of the sound-stages used for filming is the 180,000-sq-ft former Budd Co. warehouse in East Falls. An exterior location at the Pagoda in Reading, PA was filmed on April 2nd and April 9th. On April 7th, filming took place at the Philadelphia Electric Company building. Producer Frank Marshall revealed that the inside of the building is being used as a set, and that they are incorporating all the old machinery of the power plant for filming. An abandoned automotive warehouse about 10 miles outside of Philadelphia is also being used for sets, which roughly 600 craftsman, techies and designers have worked on. io9, a science fiction blog website, was invited to the set of The Last Airbender in Philadelphia and reported on a number of different sets to be used in the movie[13]. One of the sets, inside an old airplane hangar about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, which set remains unknown, is reportedly "the largest set ever constructed on the East Coast." July 2, 2009, saw the end of filming and beginning of post-production.[14]

  • The Southern Water Tribe set in Ilulissat, Greenland.
  • A Fire Temple set is being made out of the Reading Pagoda in Philadelphia, on Mount Penn.
  • The Kyoshi Island village set in the West Rockhill quarry, along with "a fortress and a castle-like compound."
  • The Southern Air Temple. Deserted, crumbled and ruined, with many skeletons lying on the ground. Wrecked Fire Nation machinery litters the area, even a completely in-tact Fire Nation Tank.[15] io9 reports many golden statues of past Avatars.
  • The Spirit Oasis. "We walk a few yards away from the mouth of a white “ice” cave, carved from foam and plastic and covered in a blanket of faux snow. Its steps lead into the mouth of a darkened bluish-gray cave that twists along for 40 feet before the path opens up into a glorious chamber that looks as if it was plucked from the canvas of a beautiful Asian landscape painting. High walls rise to create a cocooned oasis of (now dry) koi ponds, with green moss banks that lead to the stunning focal point: a towering, twisted-limbed, resplendently blooming cherry tree filled with blossoms. Even with the set not fully dressed for filming, the tree is a breathtaking vision, with 3,500 hand-placed tiny pink blossoms. It’s called the Spiritual Place, where Aang will meet the Moon Spirit, and it elicits authentic goosebumps for what this place will look like once captured on film."
  • Zuko's ship. On a life-sized replica of the bow of Zuko's ship, Dev Patel says Zuko will spar with members of his crew.
  • Possibly the Prison Rig. Inside the old Philadelphia Electric Company building, a spacious factory with many rusted pipework, valves and platforms.[16]

[edit] Marketing

The Fire Nation attacks

The teaser trailer for The Last Airbender was attached to the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on June 24, 2009. The trailer was also released exclusively on Entertainment Tonight on June 22nd. It was released onto the Internet June 23, when the movie's official website went online.

The trailer shows the titular character, Aang as played by Noah Ringer, whose head is covered by the hood of a red robe. As he trains with his staff, the narrator explains who he is:

He is the last of his kind; all that remains of a once powerful nation. Some think he is a myth; some believe he is the chosen one who will bring balance to a world at war, and some will stop at nothing to destroy him.

Aang uses Airbending to slowly blow out each of the candles until he thrusts his staff to quickly blow out the rest in a gust of air, then lifts the hood to reveal his face. Aang is then seen bending powerful currents of air out of the temple door, trying to knock off the numerous Fire Nation soldiers who are scaling the cliffs below the Air Temple. The camera pans out to reveal a massive Fire Nation armada at sea, whose ships immediately catapult balls of fire towards the temple. [17]

The cast plans to release a new trailer in December as told by Frank Marshall on Twitter: "For those of you wondering about LAST AIRBENDER, all is well in post and we r working on a trailer for Xmas...". [18]

[edit] Controversy

There is ongoing controversy in the Avatar fan community over the casting choices, in part because most of the actors were Caucasian, and the original cartoon is based on Asian culture. Later, actors of Indian descent were cast as the Fire Nation characters including Dev Patel. Popular cartoonist Derek Kirk Kim wrote a negative response to the "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."[19]

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."[20]

The casting controversy has sparked a letter writing campaign, "Aang Ain't White" and the creation of a fan protest and boycott website, Racebending.com.

[edit] Frank Marshall on Twitter

Frank Marshall, one of the producers of The Last Airbender, has lately opened a Twitter account and been posting information about the film's shooting, as well as answering limited questions from fans. In response to questions about the casting controversy, Marshall wrote:

Our vision for the movie is of ONE world, made up of four nations, influenced and inspired by the Asian undertones of the series. This world will have an ethnically diverse cast that represents many different heritages and cultures from all corners of the globe.[21][22]

He later added that the movie cast would be "more diverse" than the TV show, but did not elaborate on what he meant by "diverse." [23]

On April 20th, Marshall stated, "The casting is complete and we did not discriminate against anyone. I am done talking about it." [24]

[edit] MANAA

In February, 2009, watchdog group Media Action Network for Asian-Americans (MANAA) sent a letter of complaint to producer Sam Mercer over the film's casting. Pointing out that former MANAA Vice President Edwin Zane served as a cultural consultant for the first two seasons of the Avatar cartoon, MANAA requested that Paramount engage in dialogue with them concerning the ethnicity of the cast.

In March, Paramount responded with a letter reiterating the same claim of "more diversity" than the TV show, pointing out the diverse cultural heritages of a number of actors playing secondary roles in the movie.

The four nations represented in the film reflect not one community, but the world’s citizens. These societies will be cast from a diversity of all races and cultures. In particular, the Earth Kingdom will be cast with Asian, East Asian and Africans.

With this global perspective in mind, we believe we can best honor the true themes, ethos and fantastical nature of the Airbender stories and best capture the spirit and scale of the series to appeal to its worldwide fans.

In April, MANAA replied, blasting Paramount for "making rationalizations to white-wash this project hoping to bring in more viewers" and reiterating their request for a meeting to discuss the issue in person. Paramount has not yet responded again.

The Official Teaser Trailer released June 22, 2009

[edit] Scenes

Two scenes for the casting of Aang have been released:

  • Before Aang learns about being in the iceberg for 100 years, Aang is captured by the Fire Nation and is interrogated by Iroh and Zuko.
  • Aang meditates at the North Pole and sees Roku giving up being the Avatar for someone he loves. Later, Aang tells Katara about this.

The plot information presented in the audition sides should not be taken as a true indicator of any changes to the story of the show. In many films and television shows, the scripts read for auditions are drastically different in plot from the actual TV show or movie.

[edit] Gallery

Fire Nation soldiers

Zuko

Southern Water Tribe

Avatar Aang

Water Tribe seas

Zuko with soldiers and scar

Aang Airbending

Aang training with his staff

Aang shows his arrow tattoo

Fire Navy attacking the Air Temple

Fire Nation soldiers climbing to the temple

Aang Profile

Katara Profile

Sokka Profile

Zuko Profile

Promo featuring the bending arts

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 [1][2]
  2. ↑ http://lastairbenderfilm.com/2009/06/09/exclusive-haru-is-that-you/
  3. ↑ Twitter update
  4. ↑ Twitter update
  5. ↑ Meet Avatar Aang and Prince Zuko on LastAirbenderFilm.com (retrieved 21 May, 2009)
  6. ↑ "The Mystery of The Last Airbender"
  7. ↑ [3] (retrieved 26 May, 2009)
  8. ↑ [4] (retrieved 29 July, 2009)
  9. ↑ [5] (retrieved 29 July, 2009)
  10. ↑ [6] (retrieved 25 August, 2009)
  11. ↑ [7] (retrieved 25 August, 2009)
  12. ↑ [8] (retrieved 25 August, 2009)
  13. ↑ http://io9.com/5301315/secrets-and-glimpses-of-the-last-airbender-filming?skyline=true&s=x
  14. ↑ Production Update #13: That's a Wrap!
  15. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UhfKD22o0&feature=related
  16. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQncqKbk1Fk&feature=related
  17. ↑ Video:The Last Airbender Official Teaser Trailer
  18. ↑ http://twitter.com/LeDoctor/status/3493215544
  19. ↑ New day in politics, same old racist world on the silver screen
  20. ↑ Twilight Star Jackson Rathbone Hopes To 'Show His Range' In Last Airbender
  21. ↑ Marshall on Twitter
  22. ↑ Twitter update
  23. ↑ Second twitter update
  24. ↑ Third twitter update

[edit] External Links

Retrieved from "http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Airbender"