Filmonic » The Last Airbender

Second trailer for The Last Airbender in 4 months

Liam — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:43:17 +0000

The Last Airbender producer Frank Marshall recently updated his Twitter page with the following:

For those of you wondering about LAST AIRBENDER, all is well in post and we r working on a trailer for Xmas…

…and that’s the news. Here’s The Last Airbender teaser trailer to fill up space:

M. Night Shyamalan talks Airbender effects

Liam — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:01:27 +0000

M. Night Shyamalan is mostly known for his twist endings and supernatural plots, however with The Last Airbender he has to get a bit more technical and delve deeper into the world of special effects and green screen. VFX World had the chance to visit The Last Airbender set and they spoke to the director about the effects process. He also mentions the recently released teaser trailer which he says they “worked forever on”.

Although The Last Airbender represents his first major CG film, he suggested that he is quickly adapting to the use of high-tech in his process.
“I’m not the most techie guy in the world, so if I can keep coming from character, I can keep it grounded,” Shyamalan chuckled. “When we saw the cartoon, the mythology was so well thought out and had Buddhism, martial arts and CGI, but the kind that is character-based and that’s coming from emotions. So I could tell ILM…and speak in terms of character point of view and be effective in that way.”
Shyamalan admitted that he’s already into the cut of the film so he can provide ILM plates to start their daunting work. “I usually don’t touch editing until I am done shooting. But with a movie of this scale with the level of CGI, they need nine months to do a particular shot of waterbending. So I’m already editing to hand over the shots.”
The first glimpse of what is to come with those vfx debuted with The Last Airbender teaser trailer on June 23rd. Showing an epic water scene with warships blasting flaming missiles at Aang’s cliffside monastery, the director said that’s just a taste of what audiences can expect. “The teaser we worked on forever. I shot it and it was my idea. We did it all ourselves as first unit and it was our big effort to come out and make a big splash.”

They also spoke to producer Frank Marshall who said that The Last Airbender would be like their Star Wars as it is is the first time he has worked on a movie that has a totally made up world. Click here to read the whole article!

M. Night Shyamalan already working on second Airbender movie

Liam — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:14:22 +0000

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.

The Last Airbender teaser poster

Liam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:54:21 +0000

ReelComix have posted a teaser poster for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.

You can watch the teaser trailer that was released last week by clicking here!

The Last Airbender Teaser Trailer

Liam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:40:50 +0000

Our first look at moving footage from The Last Airbender has appeared online in the form a teaser trailer, and tease is what it does. We see Noah Ringer as Aang performing some cool staff movements to a crowd of candles. When he’s done we pull out to see a huge fleet of Fire Nation ships approaching. From the teaser we can’t really judge whether the end result will be good or not, but it certainly looks cool. Watch below!

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.

New image of Dev Patel as Zuko in The Last Airbender

Liam — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:04:11 +0000

/Film received a hi-res image of Dev Patel as Zuko from The Last Airbender. The image has been floating around the net for a few days, however I’ve waited till it was officially released before posting.

Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film is set in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.
The Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war against the other three nations. 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.

First look at The Last Airbender

Liam — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:50:01 +0000

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!