Entertainment Weekly is reporting that M. Night Shyamalan has picked some of the cast for his upcoming film, The Last Airbender.
The movie is based on Avatar: The Last Airbender, the popular animated series that ran from early 2005 up until this summer. The story was organized into 3 books (seasons) with each episode called a chapter. There are 20 chapters in each book with one extra in the final book making for a 61-episode run to tell the story and end it properly.
And that they did.
On top of winning an Emmy award and being one of Nickelodeon’s highest rated shows ever; the series spawned all sorts of merchandise including several video games – and now a potential feature film franchise.
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Here is the cast thus far:
- Noah Ringer, a karate star chosen from an open casting call in Texas will play Aang, the central character (the Avatar) of the story. Aang is the last of his tribe and the story follows him as he and his companions travel the world in search of trainers to teach him to master the four elements.
- Nicola Peltz will play Katara of the Southern water tribe.
- Jackson Rathbone of recent Twilight fame will play Katara’s brother, Sokka.
- Jesse McCartney, the young singer, is currently in negotiations to play Zuko, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation.
I watched the entire series earlier this year and really loved it. It took a bit to get used to and there was a lot of corny stuff in the earlier episodes, but overall it was pretty incredible and it is on my list of greatest cartoons ever.
That being said, similar to my thoughts on the new Dragonball Evolution trailer, this will be very difficult to translate into live-action. Shyamalan’s recent track record hasn’t exactly been stellar, so I am eager to see if he can pull this off.
The first installment of The Last Airbender is due out on the big screen July 2, 2010.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
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44 Comments
I am by default interested because it’s Shyamalan, but like you said, it sounds like another Dragonball scenario. Can “obscure to the masses” anime really find a national audience?
Same here Dan. Even if I hadn’t seen the show, I’d be interested to see M.Night adapt something that’s not his own and not some mystery/thriller with a twist.
This could be a big turn-around for him after The Happening and Lady in the Water.
Really hope they DO NOT srew this. I loved the series, great to watch, a simple touch of magic/fantasy and a lot of great character development!
I actually think this is quite a bit easier than Dragonball to translate to the big screen. At least the characters are a bit more down to Earth and there is a mighty fine story as well.
“That being said, similar to my thoughts on the new Dragonball Evolution trailer, this will be very difficult to translate into live-action.”
Just check “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” bubble scene.
Oh boy. Several of the students where I work are serious fans.
Aaaaaand they just exploded with rage. This will be a long day.
Yup, these fans are not happy.
I think it’s more to do with the ‘How dare you touch my stuff’ side of things than the actual casting choices.
This could go on for hours!
Shyamalana-ding-dong hasn’t made an interesting (or good) movie since “Unbreakable.” I’m glad I never heard of this cartoon or I’d be ticked off he’s doing it too.
I love anime, but as far as I’m concerned, Shyamalan lost credibility a long time ago. His ability to make a good movie is non-existent and I simply don’t have faith in the man anymore. And I’m likely to not see this. As I see Dragonball being a box-office and critical bomb. But who knows, I could very well be wrong and this’ll be a huge hit.
This movie is 100% screwwwed.
JESSE MCCARTNEY??? as ZUKO?!?!?!
Seriously, there are thousands of other boys out there who actually look like zuko with the experience needed, and they pick HIM?!?!?!?!
this movie is SCREWEDDDD
You said it Kristin!
Seriously?? Jesse McCartney?? The kid can’t even act. I hated him in Summerland. Zuko is such an important character that goes through the most development. And they want Jesse to play him??
Jackson Rathbone as Sokka doesn’t sit right with me either.
Thanks Shyamalan you truly outdid yourself.
I dont know. I love the show and everything, and Im willing to watch the movie. I think those actors could pull it off. I mean, its not even coming out til 2010 so they have time to adapt themselves and get into character. But, we’ll just have to wait and see how it all goes. And personally, Im excited for July 2010 now!!
Why is the cast so…..white? Katara and Sokka are supposed to be the Avatar-universe equivilent of Inuit (they’re portrayed as tan with black hair) and the actors playing them are PASTY. And Jesse McCartney…….? No. Just…no.
If you’re disappointed and offended by this casting decision, you aren’t alone. If you want to help us do something about it, you can find more information here:
http://aang_aint_white.livejournal.com
Hollywood gets away with this sort of whitewashing because their audience lets them. Help us get our voices heard, and keep this from happening again.
I’ve never seen Avatar but M. Night Whatamacallhim has been in a horrible slump since Signs. This doesn’t bode well.
@Saving the World with postage
I don’t mind them portraying ethnic characters with Anglo-Saxon actors as long as the film is good. Costner, I thought, played a very good Robin Hood without an English accent; the all-white cast of The Ten Commandments (1956) was superb even though the actual people were Africans, Jews, and eastern Islamics; and Jim Caviezel is a Catholic born in Washington but portrayed Jesus extremely well.
Well its not really an anime per say because it is made by Americans but I can see why some are offended by what some are calling the “whitewashing” of the series.
Personally I don’t mind the casting so much if they translate the themes of the series well but it makes me worried about how much effort they are going to even put into transitioning the Avatar universe into a film one.
The original creators did their research. They did the leg-work. They hired historical consultants to help them fashion, they hired martial arts masters to work with their animators, they researched architecture & cuisine and in the end created one of the most nuanced, challenging universes in contemporary speculative fiction.
I really really want this to work out but I fear something as cheesy as “Dragonball Evolution” in the end.
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/646.html
please help us change the cast before it’s too late!
WTF on all white cast on show about asian culture?
I for one am a big fan of Avtar and Dragonball so I think it is goin be awsome
yeah seriously, race doesn’t matter. they should make a movie about the life of george washington using all japanese actors. it’s the quality of the movie, yoo guyz!
Haha… if they ever made a George Washington film with Asian actors… people would be outraged. Same thing for Avatar; it’s not fair. The majority of actors are white and when a film comes out based on Asian culture–they give the part to the majority? Well, if that’s not dumping on the little guy I don’t know what is. And please don’t pretend like race doesn’t matter; people who say that they are “color blind” are ignorant. Basically you are saying, “Hey I won’t acknowledge you cultural uniqueness.”
But uhhh yea… thanks for trying.
This is an outrage! Jesse McCartney? Really? Is the world running out of actors or something? I’m effing pissed. Zuko is one of my favorite characters, as this…this is not good. If he’s definitely going to be in it, I’m definietly NOT going to see it.
Jesse McCartney? Really? No. No no no no no. This is NOT good. Zuko is my favorite character, and he’ll ruin him.
oh…come on..!! seriously..jesse mccartney? the kid isn’t even an actor..!! and everybody else is white!! what now? aren’t asians good enough or people other than whites?!
Not bad I think Shalman is doing well. Cast members pff!! James Wong had Justin Chatwin as Goku and so far I think he is doing well. I wanted more comedy from Goku. Avatar proably is going to be Dragonball all over agian. Now for Jessie Mcarney you know it a’nt official.
I personally think that if the actor can do a good job, then why should it matter what their race is. Do they ever actually say which race the characters are? It happens all the time in different movies, they make characters the wrong race and it doesn’t neccesarily make it a worse movie. And isn’t it depending on their audition and how well they can portray the character? One thing I’d like to know is how do they plan on making Jackson Rathbone tan for this role, yet stay pale for his role as Jasper in Twilight?
Prongsie, I must say that you are absolutely wrong. I, in fact, am an ENORMOUS fan of Avatar, but even I can get past how great it is and realize that the live action movie is indeed screwed. It’s going to be a complete failure if they don’t change the cast. And no one need ’say’ what race the actors are; you can see it just by looking at them.
I’m anxious–not excited–for 2010 now.
OMGGG..WHERE IS TOPH?? YOU CAN’T HAVE AVATAR WITHOUT TOPH. She is a crucial part of the story and probably the one with the biggest fan base. OH PLEASE GOD DON’T LET THEM SCREW THIS UP. Why are the actors white??? I agree with some of you, Katara and Sokka are basically natives. Oh please don’t screw this up, it’s one of my favorite cartoons ever made AND one of the greatest.
Toph isnt in the first season and so wont be in the first movie. She’ll come in the next one.
Actually, I don’t mind Aang being white. I don’t care what ethnicity each character is as long as they fit the physical characteristics. I mean, dude. Aang has grey eyes and the water tribe siblings have blue eyes. In terms of skin, just darken up their skin with some makeup or charcoal like in 10,000 BC. No matter how you look at it, an asian with those colors eyes will be difficult to find and will look very horrible. Since Avatar is an American show, I see no reason to convert the characters to stereotypical asian archetypes (which will just prove Hollywood is into racial stereotypes). I ABSOLUTELY believe though, that voice sshould be kept AMERICAN. No voodoo asian accents unless its Iroh. The biggest problem I have is JESSE MCCARTNEY AS ZUKO. NO. IT WON’T, WON’T WORK!!!
I agree on Kim. There are many modern ways of doing that. Maybe the siblings can get a sun tan. LoL. But on the accent thing, Of course!, You would hate to hear a Japanese or Korean speak English. They really suck in English. I Admit it I am Asian. But in out Country, English is our second language and most of us still have the American accent.
Can anyone clarify to me that Dev Patrel will be playing Zuko?. Is this Correct or another False Alarm?.
And another favor please?.
can you send me an e-mail of the complete cast of the avatar?. I find it hard finding them.
marlou011@gmail.com
thanks.
I agree on Kim. There are many modern ways of doing that. Maybe the siblings can get a sun tan. LoL. But on the accent thing, Of course!, You would hate to hear a Japanese or Korean speak English. They really suck in English. I Admit it I am Asian. But in our* Country, English is our second language and most of us still have the American accent.
Can anyone clarify to me that Dev Patrel will be playing Zuko?. Is this Correct or another False Alarm?.
And another favor please?.
can you send me an e-mail of the complete cast of the avatar?. I find it hard finding them.
marlou011@gmail.com
thanks.
yes, marlou, dev patel has been confirmed (thank God!) cuz jesse mccartney was the only one i really had a problem with. if you want to see the full cast, go to avatar.wikia.com. as fans, they make sure that that list is accurate.
i don’t agree with what kim said about race not mattering. casting anyone in starwars is ok, but fantasy draws so deeply from our culture that it doesn’t work. you can’t cast a japanese dude as aragorn, or an african guy as legolas, no matter how good an actor he may be, because lotr draws so deeply from medieval european culture.
at the same time, mccartney is the only one i really have a problem with because his teenybopper career is so juxtaposed to this show, and zuko is so important. rathbone as sokka can work cuz of his voice, and nicola could go either way. ringer, the texan karate kid, we virtually know nothing about, so this will really be key, whether this guy can pull it off. while worried about his acting skills, i take comfort knowing he has at least some karate training (it’s no ba gua, but hey, better than no martial arts training right?)
keep in mind, as asian influenced as this show is, fans are going to relate most to how they ’sound’ and even avatards will admit that mae whitman and zach eisen are the least asian sounding you can get. as someone pointed out, even the animations aren’t all that asian influenced as far as faces go. lighten the shades a little and change the hair color and you wouldn’t n
as for shyamalan, i am not worried about as much. for one, he is a total fan, and he’ll be working very closely with the creators of avatar, so we know he won’t butcher the storyline anyways. in his interviews, he looks really excited, so we know they’re really pulling out all the stops. snapshots have been coming in of the first shootings and it looks pretty cool. there was one picture of skeletons littering the ground of an air temple, and all though that was creepy, it’s encouraging to know that he’s taking this movie very seriously, but at the same time he’s sure to make it available to everyone (we know his daughter watches the show, so he’s going to keep it family friendly)
correction in fourth paragraph:
*wouldn’t notice a difference. the casting makes much more sense when seen in this light. still, can’t help but wonder about noah ringer when no one can find anything about him…
Aww, Toph’ not here!
Is it wrong to be choosy? Because I don’t feel that Dev Patel fits the bill either. I don’t doubt his acting skills. It’s just…I don’t know. Facial structure? Dev Patel just doesn’t seem Zuko-ish to me. But oh well. Hopefully the makeup crew will do a good job.
I want to know who’s playing Azula really bad. Are they even going to have her in the movie? Did Shamalyan say he was just going to cover Book 1?
Since Avatar’s creators are on staff, I can at least be rest assured that if the movie is screwed up, it won’t be TOO badly.
wooooooooooooooooow why do they have to ruin my life this is my favorite tv show now they have to ruin the movie that is so stupid come on now I cant go see this movie which i really wanted to when I heard it was coming out but when I haerd who the actors and actresses where I just cant finish my sentence its really weird okay bye;)
dude this is toatal bull and when they get toph shes probably gunna be hanna montaina or somithing realy stupid like that and how the f are they gunna make money of this no one is gunna see it
Jesse McCartney isn’t playing Zuko…don’t worry. But now it’s that big-eared main character from Slumdog Millionaire. Which, with all of my outrage, might represent Zuko a little better that that candy coated pop singer. But oh well.
I’m still pretty pissed that Zuko is being played by Dev Patel…I mean, I have the utmost respect for him as an actor…he really is good since i just absolutely love Slumdog Millionaire…but why is it that he’s Zuko? He has to be better looking coz Zuko is THE man…why can’t Rathbone play Zuko instead and Patel can be Sokka? it’s more accurate visually that way…and at least they won’t have to find new actors anymore…
I like the castings for some of the characters, but think it’s really whack that ALL the Asian main characters are either white or Indian. I actually think Dev would do a decent Zuko, and the kid who plays Aang might be good, but Zhao? There are literally no Eastern Asian characters in this (The Fire nation even has wushu styled Kungfu), and that pisses me off, I get that Shyamalan is Indian and such, but this casting was probably made with little to no care of the source material. I look through the cast list and I literally see no Eastern Asians playing any characters with, well, an actual name and role?
They’re going to ruin it, big time.
I hate the eastern asian thing that has everyone so worked up. In the cartoon everyone sounds american and except iroh and nobody has squinty eyes. get over it
Zuko SHOULD BE PLAYED BY Jesse McCartney!!!!!!!! Not only is he perfect for eye candy but, he actually looks like Zuko! Also i would like to add… when i heard about Jackson Rathbone being in the movie i only had one think to say: SOKKA! At the time i didn’t know who he was going 2 play until i looked it up ’bout 5 mins ago! weird right?
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