The Last Airbender Movie

Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub and Cliff Curtis have joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

Mandvi (far left) will play the role of Commander Zhao, the ambitious and hot-tempered Fire Nation commander. I don't really have much of an opinion here. I really wish that he at least had sideburns, but... I guess he'll do okay.

Toub (middle left), from Iron Man and Crash fame, was cast as Uncle Iroh, the retired Fire Nation general and devoted surrogate parent Zuko. Well... I guess that's an okay actor for the part....

Curtis (middle right), of acclaimed films like Training Day and The Insider, will play the ruthless ruler Fire Lord Ozai. Fire Lord Ozai looks weird in a suit. I honestly think they could have cast him better, but, in all honesty, its better than Jesse (who was thankfully removed)

In addition, Keong Sim (far right) has been cast in the role of Earthbending Father. Whatever role that is... So far, he is the most Avatar-looking person I've seen casted, though, so I can't complain.

While plans to build a state-subsidized movie studio in Norristown languish, and Republicans in cash-poor Harrisburg try to cut state aid to Hollywood, a King of Prussia developer has turned an empty Philadelphia factory into a "studio filming space" that has already attracted an A-list project without taxpayer help.

Director M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount Pictures Corp. are filming parts of The Last Airbender at a 180,000-square-foot former Budd Co. warehouse in East Falls, says Nicholas P. Cannone, sales and leasing director at landlord Preferred Unlimited Inc.

"Paramount and M. Night's team are currently constructing massive sets, some close to three stories high," under the 35-foot ceilings and 75-foot column bays where Budd used to build stainless-steel railcars and auto parts, Cannone told me.

Filming starts this spring, with a sequel on the drawing board. "We hope to have Paramount and M. Night on site for a few years," Cannone said. Sony Pictures has also visited, he added.

source

Article from MTV.com with Patel discussing 'The Last Airbender'

As if "Twilight" star Jackson Rathbone weren't enough already, blockbuster director M. Night Shyamalan landed another hot young Hollywood up-and-comer this week, signing "Slumdog Millionaire" star Dev Patel as the latest addition to his soon-to-shoot "The Last Airbender." Now, in his first public comments since landing the role, Patel told us he's eager to go from the mean streets of Mumbai to the fantastical world of "The Last Airbender."

"It's based on a Nickelodeon cartoon," explained Patel, who replaced Jesse McCartney earlier this week as the character of Zuko, the 16-year-old exiled prince of Fire Nation who is eager to regain his honor. "There's this character called Avatar [played by Noah Ringer] who can harness all these powers in a slightly different world, and they have different nations like the Firebenders — who can form fire and use it to their abilities — and there are Waterbenders and Earthbenders," Patel explained.

"[Aang the Avatar] is the Airbender — he can harness air and all the other ones as well," he added. "He's a special being, and I'm part of that."

Discussing his role in the flick, he said, "I play a character called Zuko who is the Prince of the Fire Nation, and it's good because it's a dark role. I'm not playing the hero, whereas in 'Slumdog' it was real character acting and performance-oriented. This is [as well], but it's much more physical, with martial arts. I'm learning on the job, so this is a great new experience for me."

According to reports, it was this intensive martial-arts training that led to McCartney's departure, after the chart-topping singer's touring schedule wouldn't fit in with Shyamalan's planned boot camp.

"I didn't," Patel said enthusiastically when asked whether he had "kicked out" the "Leavin' " singer. "I came on very late, so I didn't hear about the Jesse McCartney thing. In all honesty, I swear."

Patel has, however, heard about the "Twilight" thing — and told us that he's very excited to work with series star Jackson Rathbone. "I watched ['Twilight'] — I got invited to the premiere, luckily, in London," the 18-year-old U.K.-born Patel marveled. "The amount of fans they had for that, screaming young girls for Jackson and Robert Pattinson? I was just, like, 'Wow.'

"He's got a massive fan following, so that's good," Patel said of Rathbone. "And I guess he's used to the whole CGI thing."

These days, Patel is finishing up his "Slumdog" interviews as the film opens worldwide, and he's also holding February 22 open so that he can go pick up an Oscar or two. As soon as all the madness dies down, however, he's eager to meet the 100 Monkeys frontman face to face.

"No, I haven't [met Rathbone yet]," Patel explained, "because I've been so busy with the press on ['Slumdog']. I'm going to hopefully get down to the training for the martial-arts stuff after this. It's a quick turnaround."

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.

Noah 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.

I am switching the way I post news, so this is all the old articles:

The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency has added The Last Airbender to James Newton Howard's filmography. This is M. Night Shyamalan's new film, which is expected to premiere in the summer of 2010. It is the seventh feature film collaboration between Howard and Shyamalan, previous projects include The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable and this year's The Happening. The epic fantasy adventure follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations. Paramount will distribute. James Newton Howard has several films coming up shortly: Defiance (already nominated for a Golden Globe), Love Ranch, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Duplicity.

I found this article on Geekshow:

Some of the characters have been cast in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, the live action adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar.

It seems that the young group is filled with mostly unknowns who are likely to be household names by the time Paramount opens the first in its potential three-film franchise in July 2010.

After an open casting call in Texas, Shyamalan discovered karate star Noah Ringer and offered him the part of Airbender’s 12-year old hero, Aang, an Avatar with superpowers who must stop the Fire Nation from destroying the world.

Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone has been asked to play Aang’s pal Sokka, a would-be warrior of the South Pole’s Southern Water Tribe.

Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) will star as Sokka’s sister Katara, the last remaining Waterbender of her entire Tribe.

Singer Jesse McCartney will play the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is determined to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

The Last Airbender hits theaters July 2, 2010."

 ..... No comment.

 Okay, never mind about no comment! Man, JESSE MCCARTNEY AS ZUKO?!?!?!?!? WTF, MAN! And Nicola looks nothing like Katara..... 

 Sokka makes up for it, though. At least the hair color is right.

 *twitches at GREEN eyes*

 If you want to do something about this, check out:

Aang-aint-white.livejournal.com

NEW YORK -- M. Night Shyamalan is making a deal with the "Devil."

The helmer's three-film financing/production partnership with Media Rights Capital, the Night Chronicles, is launching with the supernatural thriller "Devil."

John and Andrew Dowdle will direct and executive produce a script by Brian Nelson ("30 Days of Night") based on an original Shyamalan story. The project will be the first feature Shyamalan has written or produced without directing.

No plot details were revealed, but Shyamalan will oversee all three films' development and production. TNC exec Ashwin Rajan will be responsible for identifying talent and will work closely with Shyamalan.

"Devil" heads into production next year, aiming for a PG-13 rating. The Night Chronicles features set to begin production in 2010 and 2011 will also be based on his original stories.

John Dowdle recenty directed "Quarantine," an adaptation of the Spanish horror hit "[Rec]" he co-scripted with brother Andrew.

"This is a dream for me. I wanted to find filmmakers that inspire me and I found them," said Shyamalan, who will co-own the films' copyrights with MRC and shop them for distribution.

The filmmaker, who recently experienced recent critical lambasting for his $64.5 million-grossing supernatural thriller "The Happening," is now directing the 2010 Paramount family fantasy "The Last Airbender."

 So it seems Shyamalan will be over-seeing one movie, while directing another... Not good, for him or us. We will have to wait longer for a lower-quality movie. Let's think about this:

Shyamalan will be busy, which will probably make him rushed. When you rush, your quaility begins to drop. But that is just my opinion. What do you think? Leave us a message in the guestbook!