While M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender may have been a critical disaster, the film has supplied Paramount with a decent box-office run, taking in over $79 million domestically, as it heads into its second weekend. While Shyamalan still has a way to go before he recoups the $150 million budget, it’s not hard to imagine the film turning a decent profit.
Of course, with that kind of box-office potential, it’s only a matter of time before Paramount starts talking about The Last Airbender sequel – poor critical reception didn’t stop the studio from making Transformers 3. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Shyamalan has already mapped out two Airbender sequels.
Speaking with MTV, Shyamalan confirmed that he’s already begun work, in an unofficial capacity, on a pair of Airbender sequels. Just like any director staring down the barrel of a critical bomb, Shyamalan is already resting on one of Hollywood’s principle go-to change-ups, promising that the Airbender sequels will be darker in tone.
“I do [have things mapped out]. The third is more ambiguous, but the second one, I’ve written a draft that I’m really happy with and is darker and richer, and it has a wonderful antagonist in it in Azula, who’s kind of like our only real, pure antagonist in the series, so I’m excited about that.”
Check out the interview snippet below to hear it straight from Shayamalan himself:
Shyamalan also indicates that certain Last Airbender footage that was shot, but cut, will not appear as deleted material on the DVD release – as the scenes have been saved for the future sequels. Giving a hint at the direction Shyamalan hopes to take the franchise.
Hint: Elite female warriors en route.
“We shot [an amazing scene with the Kyoshi Warriors], and we spent an unbelievable amount of time choreographing them. And they just distracted from the movie, because the movie wasn’t about them. I probably won’t show the Kyoshi Warriors [on the DVD] because I want to save them for the second movie, because I’m going to have to introduce them all over again.”
Since Paramount already took a number of liberties with the franchise, to the studio an Airbender sequel is probably a no-brainer - considering the box-office potential, not to mention cliffhanger in the first film. But will they bring Shyamalan back? Especially since most critics have universally placed the blame, for Airbender’s failure, squarely on the director’s shoulders.
Shyamalan seems pretty rooted in the production process (having already shot scenes that could be used in a sequel), as well as the future direction of the franchise. It’s hard to imagine Paramount uprooting him simply because critics thought the first film was a total mess. While many fans of the Avatar cartoon, myself included, might have felt cheated by Shyamalan’s Airbender film, the general public is embracing the film with cash-money. While Shyamalan might have made a mockery of the cartoon as we know it, Aang and the Avatar franchise now have more commercial appeal than ever before.
Hopefully, the critical failure of The Last Airbender will finally be the kick in the pants that Shyamalan has needed for years – getting him out of his own head and back in the business of quality filmmaking.
What do you think of the prospect of a trilogy for The Last Airbender? Do you think Shyamalan is the man to finish the job?
Source: MTV
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You either love fantasy or you don’t, the last air bender film was fantastic as a movie. Don’t compare it to anything else. I could watch the 1 movie over & over again. Can’t wait for the next installments. Bring on part 2 m night shyamalan
Taken by itself, The Last Airbender was a poorly choreographed martial arts movie with lackluster acting and special effects, a weak main character portrayal, and a rushed plot. Sorry, but you’re among the very small minority in terms of this movie; with luck, the movie will simply be rebooted entirely by a more competent director/writer, with more interaction from the shows original creators.
eRa Rummy?
Dude, the acting hurt to watch, the writing stung in my ears, the only thing notable were the visuals, which were largely used up in trailers. M night bombed like no amateur serious about advancing their career would have. He needs to be far more critical of his work, he has been a force in Hollywood cinema, not a positive force. The one good thing that can come from this is the reality that it is okay to forget the first film ever happened and to try again. They tried to reboot spiderman though it fell short of success. Avatar the last airbender deserves to be a good film, I hope a studio steps up and remake, continuing is a lost cause, I didn’t just dislike the movie, I HATE IT, and I love Avatar the last air bender series… reality, it’s not changing, but the directions of this films series need to, otherwise you won’t find the funding for a third film.
I just Loved the cartoon. Still watch it when I’m channel surfing and come across it. I was glad someone made it come to life like so many others I wish had of. Yes, it could have been better but I will still
watch it over and over again. So ready for the sequel!
Dear to whom it may concern,
I don’t care what M. Night Shyamalan does with this film. I will only do what should have been done, The last airbender will only be a memory of the past. I’ve been working hard to get where I am today, Nothing is going to stop me.
- M.A.S
I think the movie was brilliant and there is really nothing I would have done differently Im hopeful they make a second.
I recommend for all of you who took a liking to Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender to watch the original cartoon series. After you watch it, then you will realize the gravity of the situation and the despair that us Avatar fans feel from seeing such a wonderful show ruined with this mockery. I’m not trying to bash anybody, I’m just asking that you look further into it before making a decision, whether it be in favor of Shyamalan or not.
Agree…
here here, he didn’t even get aangs name right
Um, yeah, while there were a couple of things I would have done differently, it doesn’t change the fact that this was a perfectly good movie. And, yes, this is coming from someone who’s been watching A:TLA faithfully since it first premiered. In fact, when comparing the events of the movie to the original source, I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that the dialogue matched WORD FOR WORD! Sorry to put a damper on your argument, but that’s just how it is. And since they made back their entire budget and then some, I’d say filming the rest of the trilogy is a no brainer at this point.
Do you even watch movies? You can’t objectively say this is a good movie, if so then we must be misunderstanding the use of common English words like good, bad, plot, progression, acting. We seem to disagree, where would you put this film ‘objectively on IMDB’s list? Because honestly I never really put much thought into rating films deservedly under a 6.0.
Actually, I don’t put too much credibility into that website. It’s wrong more times than it’s right by (like, a good 90% of the time).
It doesn’t matter if I watch the original cartoon series or not, the movie itself was good and shouldn’t be compared to a cartoon. Since I do think the movie was good, I probably won’t like the “cartoon”. It is a movie “BASED” on the cartoon. Just as movies that are “BASED” on real life events, they are hardly real. It is not going to be the same.
hey hey hold your horses.. the movie is based on the original books.. have you ever read them at least?
Um… what books?
Are you kidding? There were no books first. The series was came up from scratch.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the first Airbender Film Cant wait for the second!!!!!!!!!!
you might love to watch the cartoon original version of the last airbender… fun and excitements await you there…
Funny, because now I am not only pissed off to the point of swearing to never let a penny of mine go into such a sequel, now I feel a natural obligation to prevent my friends from supporting such an atrocity.
He must be high, if he thinks a sequel to a bad film will sell.
Hey, the first film topped at over 300 mil at the box office, more than enough to pay back it’s 150 million dollar budget and make quite a bit of profit. So, no, he’s not high, he’s more than likely right.
I have mixed feelings from the first film made by Shyamalan although I respected the hard worked put into the film, as a Avatar cartoon series fan I was a sadden by the story line. I’m a film major myself and after watching this film it has inspired me to write an Avatar based on the original series, I don’t know how I feel about the 2nd movie coming up, maybe a bit torn by the fact that I don’t know what to expect again.
It’ll be better if they get the names right, he didn’t even get aang or avatar right, that made me the most anger not of all of it, plus the cast wasn’t that great.
Avatar WAS pronounced correctly by most of the characters, it was Nicola Peltz who has a unique way of pronouncing it. And according to my boyfriend, who happens to be Japanese, Aang’s pronunciation sounded more accurate in the movie.
My dad and I have always loved the cartoon franchise, I was so excited for The Last Airbender. I have also always had a great deal of respect for M. Night Shyamalan but after seeing this I am so disapointed. It was poorly casted, lacked any of it’s original flavour,the bending was just God awful, but what really set me off was that they didn’t pronouce any of the charater’s names correctly. I just wish it could have been better. Terrible acting, effects, and they didn’t even have enough brain power to articulate Aang’s name correctly. *FACE PALM* and what’s with Iroh being skinny? I mean no disrespect and hate to sound rude but this doesn’t hold a candle to the show…
No, the film actually got the pronunciations right. The cartoon series Americanizes the names, basically in a sense butchering them. One of the many reasons why my boyfriend could not sit through the show was because of that.
You do realize the show is based on Chinese culture not Japanese right?
Culture-wise, yes, it is Chinese, but the animation style mimics Japanese anime.
Why oh why can’t someone who has the foggiest of clues make this flick? You don’t mess with awesome and the story and characters here are AWESOME. The twist he added was turning an awesome thing into processed pablum.
My only hope is that the sequel dogs out entirely at the box office and the studio abandons it entirely. I refuse to ponder Shyamalan finishing the Airbender series and starting on Legend of Korra.
I don’t care what any of the so called critics have said… this is a great film and considering the length of “book 1″, M.N.S. did a wondeful job of piecing together a plot from 21 episodes. I hope and pray HE does the other 2 books as this is my favorite franchise of all time.
Dude. It sounds like you never even watched the original series. Good lord, this applies to all of those in favor of the live-action version.
Everybody have their own opinions. Get a life.
The cartoon franchise of Avatar-The Last Airbender, was an epic animated series! It was great!! But this ” movie, ” was just AWFUL!! The actors were DRY! The dialogue was SO BAD!! This ” movie ” did not do the animated franchise justice, AT ALL!!! I’m just being honest!!
Wow. You do know that there are multiple places where the dialogue matches up with the T.V. series word for word, right? Which means you basically just insulted the ORIGINAL dialogue.
When will you get it its not the dialogue that offends people its the acting and movie as a whole. Avatar the last airbender was a masterpiece and deserves to be portrayed as much. I get he was going for realism but he had white people as the waterbenders instead of Natives, Most of the names were pronounced wrong, MAJOR plot points were changed and on top of it all he took away the firebenders MAIN ABILITIES. I mean come on? Needing fire to fire bend? By that sense they would be the weakest nation!
Uh, okay, first of all, that was a comment about the script dialogue, not the acting. Next time, read before you comment. I never commented on the acting of the stars because of the fact that only a couple of them have any training, and I don’t like to criticize novices.
As for the names, YOU obviously weren’t paying attention to my previous posts. The names were pronounced CORRECTLY in the film, NOT in the cartoon. My boyfriend is of Asian descent, and every single time I tried to get him to sit down to watch the series, he cringed every time they said Aang and Sokka’s name. He never made it though one episode because, while he agreed the show had potential, he couldn’t stand to listen to the series “butcher his culture” like that (his words, not mine). He was pretty pissed that I dragged him to the movie, but afterwards said that he was glad I did because it was much more authentic than the series. So, clearly, he wasn’t insulted by what Shyamalan did.
Okay, I’ve said my peace. Feel free to argue back, you’re entitled to your opinion, but I’m pretty much done with this nonsense.
poor movie
I was expecting more from the last airbender it wasn’t all like the cartoon or book the way it ended i was sure there would be a second one i just hope
the second would be better and show more detail
What are you talking about? The final scenes of Book 1 (both film and episode) included:
1. Aang entering the Avatar state and driving the Fire Nation army out of the Northern Water Tribe.
2. Fire Lord Ozai declaring his son a failure and his brother a traitor, and then telling Azula he had a mission for her.
Pretty cut and dry. Dialogue was even the same in that last scene, for the most part.
I think he is def the man for the next two he is planning. Just because some people see it as a failure doesn’t mean anything. It just means that he knows what to improve for the next movies. There is always room for improvement from what I have learned in the military. Another thing some of the main characters were sort of young to be doing crazy stunts with fighting and such. As with age and more practice and time comes better acting and stunts. I think the next two will be a lot better and I know m night has the mind to create crazy stories and plots. He has this I know it!
I don’t care what anyone says about this movie or the cartoons, I have been obsessed and in love with it since the cartoon first came out and so are a large group of my friends, I believe this is the best and most amazing cartoon that has ever been made and the movie is absolutely amazing, I am on pins and needles waiting for the sequel and praying for another to come along. Please don’t listen to bad reviews, those people have no idea what they are talking about and have no life but to find something to bash and complain about. Please I am begging, continue with this great story, I could watch it for the rest of my life and never get tired of it and would love for my children to enjoy it as well. It has brought me so much joy and so many goosebumps, I love it so much, please please please come out with a part two, I will be your biggest supporter and so would all of my friends, we are waiting on your brilliance!!!
You should be ashamed to be a avatar fan.
I like this movie! I had watch the Avatar cartoons. I think the director is doing the wonderful job. He may not include everything in his movie, but he tried his best! I dont think people should be mean to him and complain about his movie because its not perfect. I mean at least he tried!
Pleeeeease, Mr. Shamalamadingdong… make a sequel to Last Airbender! I’m already drooling at the thought of watching Mike, Kevin, and Bill gutting it on Rifftrax! Lord knows they did such a good job on the first one. They deserve another chance!
I believe It was a loyal film (mostly) one of the most loyal anime based films I have ever seen eversince the tragedy of DBE, maybe the characters didnt resemble alot with the anime ones (PHYSICALY) and the acting seem a tiny bit plastic at some moments, but M. Night totaly did It with the most respect as posible he even pronounced the names in their original form!! anyone could get by the tiny details and ignore em’ but it seems there are alot of unreasonable people lookin for a fight… Im a fan of the series, the movie had a bit of a darker touch, that makes it more realistic, I hope M.Night keeps making the sequels.
The first movie was unbelievably terrible and shamed my loved series! But if Shyamalan makes the next two movies exactly like the series then we have nothing to worry about!
Sokka’s not funny in the movie!!! Whhaaaaa
at least the guy tried, cant really blame a guy 4 try’n I actualy saw a little bit of Sokka in him but he could have done it better…
I’ve been reading some the comments here i feel like a majority of the people writing good things about the movie were hired. One example is the the person saying that the movie matched the dialoged from the cartoon word for word. Well I’ve seen both the movie and the cartoon they didn’t match at all if any dialoged was match it was horribly misplaced. When i saw the trailer this looked like it was going to be epic, but i have never felt more cheated untill i saw this crap. This movie really didn’t match the cartoon at all and the story was rushed. Its true they did make there money back but i know the next movie isn’t for one reason the avatar the last air bender fans of the cartoon won’t pay the price of admission to watch it. Movies are all ready expensive enough no point in wasting money on crap.
Watch the scenes surrounding the Blue Spirit episodes, then go back and watch the episodes. Pay close attention to the confrontation between Aang, the Blue Spirit, and Zhao. Watch them both simultaneously, playing each one line at a time, pausing in between. You’ll see what I mean about the dialogue. Trust me, even I didn’t realize how exact it was until AFTER I watched the episode hours after watching the movie. I literally got goosebumps.
I thought the movie was great!!! Our family can not wait for the sequels.
In my honest opinion, it should of been a different director, and each book should of been split into a two part movie. M. Night Shyamalan’s version seemed rushed, the acting was bad, the original story from the book and cartoon was totally different. I wont get into the pronunciation of the characters names; or how Momo’s and Appa’s playdd some part.
I am a Avatar series fan, and no Im not a crazy one. To be honest I did not like the movie, but not because of the small changes. I didnt mind the name changes because i like the idea of actually pronoucing it correctly, or that uncle Iroh is not fat. I do mind how ever that the film is so dark and there was no comedy in the film what so ever and that M.N.S got the characters all wrong. In the movie it sayd Aang is “angry” I disagree with that 100%. In the series Aang is confused and hurt by the monks that he is not allowed to live a his own life. Another thing Sohka and Aang are both fun spirted characters. Sure they have their series side, but that is the progression throughout the series, I think they call it “character development”. It’s just very irrtating to me how M.A.S took this movie and changed it’s character progression completly, he should have known that if he wanted this movie to be a hit he would have to please fans! We are probably 90% of your sales. In my opinion they should scrap this movie and start fresh with new actors and a new director.
Agreed he wouldn’t have had to change key plot points if he had split them up like that
Agreed, he wouldn’t have had to change key plot points if he had split them up like that.