The Last Airbender (Shyamalan, 2010)

[kaytee]

Shyamalan cast floats on 'Air'
'Slumdog' star Dev Patel joins Paramount film

"Slumdog Millionaire" star Dev Patel has joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," the Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films live-actioner based on a Nick TV series.
Patel will be featured alongside newcomer Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jessica Jade Andres. Production begins in mid-March in Greenland.

In casting Patel and Ringer, a director accustomed to delivering plot twists to audiences got some surprises of his own. Ringer is a complete unknown who was tapped for the title role off an Internet audition. Patel, meanwhile, steps into a role that Jesse McCartney had all but locked up until the actor's second career as a musician got in the way.

"Jesse had tour dates that conflicted with a boot camp I always hold on my films, and where the actors here have to train for martial arts," Shyamalan said.

Patel was "already one of the guys I was interested in. Then I saw 'Slumdog Millionaire,' and the kid just grew in my eyes," he said.

Tyro thesp Ringer will play Aang, the film's lead, who is the last of a race of people who can manipulate the elements of air.

Ringer, a 12-year-old from Texas, landed the part after demonstrating his martial arts skills in an Internet vid that he posted to a website Shyamalan set up for open virtual auditions.

Patel will play Zuko, a member of the Fire Nation. Peltz plays the Water Tribe rep Katara, while Andres is the Earth Kingdom's representative, Suki.

While McCartney was knocked out by scheduling, Rathbone managed to work around a conflict with "New Moon," where he will reprise his role as a bloodsucker from "Twilight."

Paramount is set to release "Airbender on July 2, 2010.

Shyamalan said he is planning a three-picture story arc.

[ak]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TQefwYYjp_o&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/TQefwYYjp_o&rel=1</a>

[ak]

Filming is underway. Read more and see the production pictures.

Andrew Lesnie who photographed the LOTR trilogy is the DP.

[kaytee]

We have pictures...

[shariqq]

Can't say much - except the little of the productuion values it shows seem to be pleasing.

[sandeep]

cant digest dev patel in the above pic after tea boy image in Slumdog... i guess being in such a film has its pros and cons...

[shariqq]

I wonder if he'll keep his British accent, or develop the American version of the Indian accent.

[kaytee]

Teaser time...doesnt give away much my the effects do look decent.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/e0ZjjMBXMpk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/e0ZjjMBXMpk&rel=1</a>

[sandeep]

Seems very different from his usual movies which are usually on a smaller scale...

[suresh]

Somehow reminds me of the House of Flying Daggers scene
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQv467G7eKk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NQv467G7eKk&rel=1</a>

[shariqq]

That reminds me, a friend was able to catch a 10-minutes preview of The Last Airbender at a screening by MTV a few days ago, and he said it looks marvelous.

I think Shyamalan should stick to working on movies that make use of child actos. It is possibly the secret of his past success.

[ayaa1977]

Or perhaps it is because he is only directing it. I know that he wrote his early films too, but from what I read he got too full of himself and that is why his last films sucked. Both Lady in The Water and The Happening had the potential to be decent films if he just had restrained himself and gave the idea to a good writer to run with it.

[fizz]

I too think this might be good (the trailer is strictly decent, but it also doesn't feel familiar which is a positive), mostly because this is adapted material. I think Shayamalan hit the ball out of the park with both 6th sense and Unbreakable (and to a slightly lesser extend with his two follow up films) and has forever been trying to write the same story in different ways. He isn't a very diversified writer and I'd be willing to see whatever he makes as long as it isn't the same old tiring concept.

[shariqq]

Posters.

[ayaa1977]

Is it me or are those poster imitating Harry Potter's?