Good news Avatar fans (fans of the cartoon that is), The Last Airbender director M. Night Shyamalan is in it for the long run! I guess we can decided whether this is actually ‘good news’ after we see the film this summer, but I’ve been quite impressed with all the trailers that have been released up until now, so hopefully M. Night doesn’t disappoint.

In an interview with UGO the director spoke about the film and it’s sequels. He mentioned he wants to make a small film before making the follow-up, and he sees the trilogy as one big arc, comparing it to The Lord of the Rings.

- 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.

Last year we heard that M. Night Shyamalan was already working on the script for the second movie, so if the first film is a success it shouldn’t take too long before the second can begin production. Producer Frank Marshall said they are aiming for the trilogy to take place over 6 years, which means the films should be released around 2-3 years apart.

We can expect another trailer for The Last Airbender to be released alongside Iron Man 2 in May.

Paramount Pictures decided that the 2010 Winter Olympics would be a suitable event to debut a brand new TV spot for The Last Airbender, and I’m glad they did. I haven’t seen one single episode of the original cartoon however all the trailers released so far, along with this new TV spot, get me all excited. It’s something about the visuals and epic feel that gets me interested, and I can’t wait until the film is released in July. Hopefully M. Night Shyamalan won’t disappoint.

The film’s hero, the reluctant young Aang (Noah Ringer), is the “Last Airbender” — the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together.

Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Dev Patel plays the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

We saw a brief glimpse at The Last Airbender last week with the Super Bowl TV spot, and now Paramount has released the first full trailer for the film. We get to see more of those cool ILM visual effects, along with a brief look at the other characters (I haven’t seen the cartoon do I have no idea who they are).

The film’s hero, the reluctant young Aang (Noah Ringer), is the “Last Airbender” — the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together.

Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Dev Patel plays the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

The Last Airbender will be released on July 2nd 2010, and if it’s a hit a sequel will get the greenlight pretty quickly. Kids don’t stay young forever!

UGO got their hands on a TV spot for The Last Airbender which will be shown during the Super Bowl, and I think the word ‘epic’ would be an appropriate word to use. All we’ve seen so far is a few images and a teaser where a small guy blows out some candles. However this short trailer should definitely get people interested.

Watch below:

We should be getting another trailer sometime this month, so keep an eye out.

The film’s hero, the reluctant young Aang (Noah Ringer), is the “Last Airbender” — the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together.

Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Dev Patel plays the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

Things have been quiet on The Last Airbender front recently. We were supposed to be getting a trailer in December, however it got pushed back till February so that ILM could finish some key scenes. Now it looks like Paramount are starting to turn up the marketing gears, with the release of two new banners. One features Noah Ringer as Aang, and the other shows Dev Patel as Zuko.

From Yahoo!

Click here to check out the other one!

The film’s hero, the reluctant young Aang (Noah Ringer), is the “Last Airbender” — the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together.

Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Dev Patel plays the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

We are only just starting to get marketing material from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender which is still a year away, however producer Frank Marshall has revealed that Shyamalan is already working on the second movie, and that they plan on shooting the trilogy over the span of 6 years.

From Starlog:

Unlike Peter Jackson’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS, this trio of films won’t lense back-to-back-to-back. “We’re shooting them one at a time, because they’re being written one at a time,” says veteran producer (and STARLOG favorite) Frank Marshall. “Night is now working on the script for the second movie, but he hasn’t had time to write the second or third ones. He’s looking at the arc of all three. One of the things we’ll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three. We’re not waiting. There just isn’t enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we’ll prepare for the next one. I think it’ll probably happen over six years.”

Whenever young actors are involved, especially when they are the main character, the film makers have to be quick off the mark when making sequels due to mother natures gift of ‘ageing’. In 6 years Noah Ringer who plays Aang will be 20, and no longer a kid.

USA Today received the first images from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. The images give us our first look at 12 year old Noah Ringer as Aang and Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as Zuko.

Ringer didn’t need to alter much to play Aang, who uses martial arts to manipulate the weather. Like Aang, Ringer keeps his head shaved and is an expert in martial arts. “It keeps me cool when I’m doing tae kwon do,” says Ringer, a Texas native with a black belt who landed the role after sending a homemade DVD of him practicing the sport. “It’s so cool to get the part.”

Patel, too, seems suited for the film, the first of a planned trilogy. He earned his black belt in tae kwon do before he turned to acting and discovered the television show while filming Millionaire. “I started watching it in my trailer in India,” says Patel, who plays the villain Zuko, a “firebender” (he manipulates flames). “I see why the fan base is so big. It’s got action but a lot of moral messages.”

To see Dev Patel as Zuko click here!