Recently, Jordan Hoffman at UGO took part in a roundtable interview with director M. Night Shyamalan to discuss his new film, The Last Airbender. For those who still aren’t in the know, The Last Airbender is based on the award-winning Nickeloden animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The movie, like the animated series, revolves around the character Aang (Noah Ringer), who, as the new Avatar, is capable of controlling all four elements. Aang must learn to wield his power to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the Water, Air, and Earth Nations.
I have copied some of the most interesting tidbits from the roundtable below, but to see all of Shyamalan’s thoughts, you’ll have to head over to UGO. There is also supposed to be a video of the interview going up later in the week, so keep an eye out for that as well.
- The Last Airbender is very much the first in a planned trilogy. Night compares it to Lord of the Rings in that it is all one story not, “more adventures” with your favorite characters. The three films will mirror the three seasons of the series, with some tweaks.
- Night plans to direct all three, but before the second one he wants to bang out a smaller-budgeted thriller.
- The thriller is *not* Unbreakable 2, though he still hopes one day to get to that. And he knows Bruce Willis feels the same way.
- Night hopes the CG in The Last Airbender will be unique in that there isn’t as much quick-cutting as in commonly seen in CG-heavy films. Go back and look at his other films and you will see a lot of long takes. This means the CG is going to have to be really top notch, because it can’t be hidden away with cutting.
- The last person in the Shyamalan house to fall in love with Avatar: The Last Airbender was M. Night himself. In what can only be called an origin story, you’ll hear how Night came to this project through the lobbying of his parents, wife and, most importantly, children.
I’m happy to see Shyamalan back on his A-game for The Last Airbender, especially since his last movie, 2008′s The Happening, was almost universally panned by critics. From some of his comments, it is obvious that he is passionate about the material (no doubt due to the fact that his wife and kids loved the animated series) and that he has taken great pains to preserve the integrity of the original show.
Perhaps the best detail Shyamalan addressed was his plans to turn The Last Airbender into a trilogy with an overarching story based roughly on the three seasons of the animated series. While the box office is what will ultimately determine whether or not Shyamalan gets to return to the series, I believe that focusing on a bigger story is a great way to ensure that the film transcends what could be a simple kiddy action flick into something with much more depth.
Back in December, we named The Last Airbender one of Screen Rant’s 20 most anticipated movies of 2010. Since then, almost everything that has come out about the movie has helped us reaffirm our decision, particularly the most recent theatrical trailer. While I’m not overly familiar with the original series, I believe Shyamalan’s comments make the prospect of seeing The Last Airbender even more exciting for both hardcore fans and newbies alike.
What do you think of Shyamalan’s comments? Do they make you want to see The Last Airbender even more?
Source: UGO
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At first I'm concerned about it being a trilogy. A trilogy is always more uncertain to be filmed than one film that's almost ready of course.
On the other hand, this story deserves more time to be told than one film, and the three series lend them selfs good for one film each I guess.
This film is still standing on top of my list, can't wait !
There are some more details though , but they are mostly for Hardcore fans of the original series like me . Can't wait for another trailer coming out with Ironman and obviously the video of the round table discussion too
I'm just happy that the entire series, which was wonderful, isn't going to be deleted and crammed into one movie. No matter how long, one movie just couldn't contain enough detail to be able to actually do the series the treatment it deserves.
YES, I WANT IT ALL!!! I love Shyamalan, I love Aang, this movie is going to be great.
Im someone that has come to the Airbender series by way of another fandom that has a movie out aroudn the same time as this will be and frankly while Ive been involved w/that fandom for years, Im more excited to see this film! Its such a great story and Im very happy they didnt try to cram it all into one movie like others may have been apt to do!
Though I do have one concern – we've not seen Appa and Momo yet….why? It wont be the same without them!
don't be worried about that , you can see Appa in both the trailers .you just have to look closer. Momo is definitely in the movie and M Night plans to give him a bigger role in the future films (like momo saves the day)
Ha! I knew it. When i watched the first trailer i noticed that it was all Season 1 (Book of water) which means they were going for a possible trilogy. Yes this is awesome news.
My kids and I watched the animated series all the way through and were hooked from the start. It would make sense that it's a trilogy as that's how it was presented originally. The first movie deals with the element of water and the water tribes of the north and south. The second would deal with the element of earth and the earth kingdom. The last with the element of fire and the fire nation. Aang being the last airbender and air being the 4th element that runs throughout the whole storyline. If you watch the original series you will see that the Avatar is master of all 4 elements and therefore if ever a series lent itself to a trilogy this one does. My kids and I are looking forward to this movie more than any other this year. We cannot wait
I'm going to give this movie a chance, but if the humor from the show is replaced with the usual Shamalan moodiness (annoying dim lighting and everyone looking depressed) that is in every one of his films, I'm done with the whole trilogy. Also The Happening was rightfully torn several new ones, I don't want to spoil anything though, so I'll just say one word that captures the full stupidity of this movie;plants.
There are some more details though , but they are mostly for Hardcore fans of the original series like me . Can't wait for another trailer coming out with Ironman and obviously the video of the round table discussion too
I'm just happy that the entire series, which was wonderful, isn't going to be deleted and crammed into one movie. No matter how long, one movie just couldn't contain enough detail to be able to actually do the series the treatment it deserves.
YES, I WANT IT ALL!!! I love Shyamalan, I love Aang, this movie is going to be great.
Im someone that has come to the Airbender series by way of another fandom that has a movie out aroudn the same time as this will be and frankly while Ive been involved w/that fandom for years, Im more excited to see this film! Its such a great story and Im very happy they didnt try to cram it all into one movie like others may have been apt to do!
Though I do have one concern – we've not seen Appa and Momo yet….why? It wont be the same without them!
don't be worried about that , you can see Appa in both the trailers .you just have to look closer. Momo is definitely in the movie and M Night plans to give him a bigger role in the future films (like momo saves the day)
Ha! I knew it. When i watched the first trailer i noticed that it was all Season 1 (Book of water) which means they were going for a possible trilogy. Yes this is awesome news.
My kids and I watched the animated series all the way through and were hooked from the start. It would make sense that it's a trilogy as that's how it was presented originally. The first movie deals with the element of water and the water tribes of the north and south. The second would deal with the element of earth and the earth kingdom. The last with the element of fire and the fire nation. Aang being the last airbender and air being the 4th element that runs throughout the whole storyline. If you watch the original series you will see that the Avatar is master of all 4 elements and therefore if ever a series lent itself to a trilogy this one does. My kids and I are looking forward to this movie more than any other this year. We cannot wait
I'm going to give this movie a chance, but if the humor from the show is replaced with the usual Shamalan moodiness (annoying dim lighting and everyone looking depressed) that is in every one of his films, I'm done with the whole trilogy. Also The Happening was rightfully torn several new ones, I don't want to spoil anything though, so I'll just say one word that captures the full stupidity of this movie;plants.
I love the series. I just finished watching all 3 seasons and was upset that it ended. great storyline, imagination and cliffhangers in this series. i personally like about half of Shyamalan's films. signs and the lady in the water were both well written with lots of suspense. the village was horrible, happening, was interesting but i wouldnt watch it again.
i agree that most of shyamalan's film are very monotone, I'd like to see how he takes this series, which is full of life and comedy, and direct it himself.
*better not screw it up*
I just watched the movie yesterday at an early showing. The movie to me was just ok. I feel like it didn’t do the anime cartoon justice. The moves in the cartoon were great vs. the moves that the movie had which were really basic and repetitive. The pronouncing of Aangs name was wrong and a total throw off. It was definantly not the same as in the cartoon. Also, When the new one comes PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use the cartoon as a guide in order to make the movie better. If you actually use the cartoon than the next chapter will definately be successful.