The Last Airbender Movie - Talk Up!

[Bigdog]

I find it interesting they amped up his scar again for the toy.

Can we merge my thread with this thread considering that it's covering the same film?

Especially since my thread covers this and more in depth information on the film.

 

[Silver Wolf]

There was a big (as in over breakfast, apparently) interview between the various media and fan-sites with Shyamalan concerning the film, lots of stuff were discussed or explained. A proper video of the interview is to be released by Paramount hopefully within the next two weeks.

For now there is the many reports:
[HIDE]

As if getting to see every cool movie in advance of the public didn't make me enough of a stud, here's one more: the other day I ate blueberry muffins with M. Night Shyamalan as he spoke candidly about The Last Airbender for the first time since the film wrapped principle photography. I was with a small group of other online journalists plus three stoked webmasters from Airbender fan sites (they included Jordan from AvatartheLastAirbenderOnline.com, Jack from LastAirbenderFilm.com and Teddy from LastAirbenderFans.com, all sites you should check out.) The love in the room for Aang and his quest to bring balance to the four nations led what could have been a standard publicity opp to soar like Sozin's Comet into an afternoon of serious fan talk.

Avatar: The Last Airbender enthusiasts will put any doubts aside when they hear Night speak about this project. He really gets why this property is so special, and he knows the source material up and down. Like a true fan, he can throw down phrases like, "Season 1, Episode 16" before discussing Master Jeong Jeong. To a fan, that speaks volumes.

Paramount videotaped our one-hour roundtable conversation, and much of what was discussed is best kept under wraps until we spring this video on you in a few days. However, I can give you a little preview of some of the facts Night dropped at our feet that true Airbender fans need to hear now now now! Hold tight to Appa's reins.

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.

Momo is absolutely in the movie. Night still hopes to find a moment where Momo does something really important and somehow saves the day, but for the first one he's in there "just for fun."

That said, our expectations for the amount of comedy in the films has been managed. Night warns that "what works in the show won't always work in the film" and some of the broad comedy has been cut. Prepare yourselves now - there will be no cabbage salesman in the film. The fate of Penguin Sledding remains inconclusive. (You can parse the reply when you see the video.)

During one enthusiastic moment discussing the CG effects, the phrase "Master Pakku using water like nun-chucks" was used. Everyone in the room responded, "Coooooool."

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 writing in the film (in, say, the Waterbending Scroll or Aang's "Wanted" poster) will not be Chinese calligraphy as in the show, but an Asian-inspired pictorial language created just for this movie.

Perhaps most importantly, Night eloquently and deliberately addressed the so-called "racebending" issue, dealing with what some feel is a specific effort on his part to bleach the Asian origins of the film. It would be hard to summarize his response in a bullet point, so wait for the video next week on that one.

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.

Stay tuned for more The Last Airbender info between now and when Katara, Sokka and I discover him in an iceberg on July 2nd!

Source: UGO.com

-The world of The Last Airbender is inspired by Asian culture, much the same way The Lord of the Rings is inspired by Midieval Europe. The story of this film does not take place in our world, hence the absense of East Asian caligraphy that was prevalent in the animated series.
M. Night was just as mystified by the lack of resolution in the Zuko’s Mother story arc in Book 3, and declared he will make it a priority to do so in the films.
-Sillier moments and characters from the show, such as the Cabbage Man, will not be a part of the film.
-He met with Mike & Bryan during the production of Book 3 to be sure that they had no plans to extend the story into a possible Book 4, before he moved forward with the production of The Last Airbender. Night wanted to be sure it would end in Book 3.
-Casting the lead characters was done without bias. Any actor of any race had a shot at the roles. Once the lead characters were cast, the people of their respective nations were cast as the same or similar race.
-Toph will be Asian in the sequel.

Source: Lastairbenderfilm.com

-Night said he got the idea of how waterbending should look from watching astronauts in space.
-He mentioned how he didn't like the term sequels when talking about these movies; as sequels often mean continuing the story just to make more money. "The first movie is just the beginning of the story."
-They created their own written language for this movie that is inspired by other eastern and Asian languages. This is not our world, but it was inspired by aspects of it.
-There were no preferences during casting. The goal was for everybody to be able to see themselves in a character.
-Night has already written 2 drafts of the script for the second movie.
-The movies will get bigger and more location oriented with each film.

Source: Lastairbenderfans.com

Despite being known for taking roles and cameos in his films, he apparently is not in The Last Airbender… though he does have an idea of who he might play if a sequel gets made. (He's not saying who it is, but his kids wanted him to play the "guy who never bathes.")

Speaking of which, Shyamalan is definitely approaching this project as a trilogy of films. He's already got the story mapped out for the next two pictures, and he expects that he will direct the entire series -- though Paramount could always fire him, he reminded us with a laugh.

Source: Ign.com
[/HIDE]

Also another new trailer (and possibly another one to premiere with Iron Man 2):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm_PBxNJXVM"]Youtube[/ame]

And, yes, the debate on who the voices are at the end of the trailer (and whether or not they are fitting) has already begun. Someone sent a message to one of the higher ups of the production but no reply has come back just yet.

 

[Quark]

I think the most obvious answer would be Aang and Katara.

 

[SaikoDragon]

I don't deserve their praise", is likely Aang.

This trailer looks bad ass. Cant wait to see this film

 

[DarkBlaze]

The highlight of the trailer was defintely the showdwon between Zuko and Katara. July...hurry up and get here!!!

 

[garfield15]

I thought the "You will" was Aang.

Also, wasn't some of that music in the 2012 trailer?

 

[wins2]

New Japanese trailer is out.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDG9IizVNSo[/ame]

 

[DarkBlaze]

This is gonna be great!

 

[Kivat]

^That was hot. Yo, all the bending is going to be so beautiful. I'm in awe from these trailers.

 

[DarkBlaze]

Visually, I know for a fact that this movie is going to be absolutely beautiful. My only small concern is the execution and transaction of the characters, story, and acting. Night made a rather risky move bringing in a boy with no acting experience; but obviously he saw something in Noah that must have shined. I have no immediate concerns for Rathbone (Sokka); his skills in acting are pretty good.