The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender

Theatrical release poster
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by M. Night Shyamalan
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Sam Mercer
Scott Aversano
Screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan
Story by Michael Dante DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Starring Noah Ringer
Nicola Peltz
Jackson Rathbone
Dev Patel
Shaun Toub
Aasif Mandvi
Cliff Curtis
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Andrew Lesnie
Editing by Conrad Buff
Studio Nickelodeon Movies
The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Blinding Edge Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) New York City premiere:
June 30, 2010 (2010-06-30)
United States:
July 1, 2010 (2010-07-01)
Running time 103 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150,000,000[2]
Gross revenue $252,831,242[3][4]

The Last Airbender is a 2010 American adventure fantasy film released on July 1, 2010.[5] It is a live-action film adaptation based on the first season of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The film stars Noah Ringer as Aang, a reluctant hero who prefers adventure over his job as the Avatar. Aang and his friends, Katara and Sokka, journey to the North Pole to find a Waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara the secrets of the craft. At the same time, Fire Lord Ozai, the current Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, is waging a seemingly endless war against the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the already vanquished Air Nomads. The film also stars Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, and Dev Patel.

The first of a planned trilogy, The Last Airbender was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.[6] Development for a film began in 2007; it was adapted into a film by M. Night Shyamalan, who also directed and produced. Other producers include Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Sam Mercer and Scott Aversano.[7] The series from which it was adapted was influenced by Asian art, mythology and various martial arts fighting styles and was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Filming began in mid-March 2009; the movie was released in both traditional two-dimensional projectors, as well as in 3D (using the RealD 3D format).[8][9][10]

The Last Airbender was made for $150 million and marketed with a budget of $130 million, making total costs at least $280 million.[2] Other estimates put the cost between $100 million and $110 million, while various news sources reported the whole Last Airbender trilogy would be made for around $250 million.[11][12] Premiering in New York City on June 30, 2010, it opened in the United States the following day, grossing an estimated $16 million.[13][14]

Contents

Plot

The film begins with a fourteen-year-old Waterbender named Katara, and her older fifteen-year-old warrior brother, Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe, find an Iceberg with a twelve-year-old boy named Aang and a flying bison named Appa, trapped inside. Arriving to Southern Water Tribe, Zuko demands the elderly under the impression that Avatar is an old person until Aang is found. Aang surrenders himself to Zuko as long as he agrees to leave the village alone. On the ship Aang is tested by Iroh and they discover that he is the avatar. Directly after the test Aang escapes with the flying bison brought by Katara and Sokka. Aang and friends visit the Southern Air Temple where the Avatar learns that he was in the ice for a century and the Fire Nation wiped out everyone he knew there, because of the despair he enters the avatar state and finds himself for a brief moment in the spirit world where a voice asks him where he has been.

Arriving in a small Earth Kingdom town that is controlled by the Fire Nation, Aang's group are arrested because of Katara who tries to help a young boy from a patrol but froze Sokka instead. They then incite a rebellion with reminding the disgruntled Earthbenders that earth was given to them through the air ducts. Soon after, Katara finds a Waterbending scroll that she uses to perfect her innate Waterbending abilities while helping Aang master Waterbending as they make their way to the Northern Water Tribe and liberate more Earth Kingdom villages in the process. During a side track to the Northern Air Temple on his own, Aang is betrayed by a peasant and captured by a group of Fire Nation Yuu Yan archers, commanded by Zhao. However, a masked marauder, the "Blue Spirit", helps Aang escape from his imprisonment. Aware that Zuko is the "Blue Spirit," Zhao arranges the prince's demise. But Zuko survives the attempt on his life and, with Iroh's help, sneaks aboard Zhao's lead ship as his fleet departs for the Northern Water Tribe to execute the plan he and Ozai set up with the scrolls from the Library detailing the spirits there.

Upon arriving, Aang's group is welcomed warmly by the citizens of the Northern Water Tribe. Once the Fire Nation armada arrives, Zhao begins his attack while Zuko infiltrates the tribe on his own, capturing Aang while he entered the spirit world to find the dragon spirit to give him the wisdom to defeat the Fire Nation. Coming to his senses, Aang battles Zuko before Katara freezes him. As the battles escalates, Iroh watches Zhao slay the moon spirit Tui, causing the Waterbenders to lose all of their powers and abilities to Waterbend. As Zhao is drowned by Northern Waterbenders after Zuko and Iroh leave him to his fate, Aang uses the ocean to drive the armada back. Aang now fully embraces his destiny as the Avatar and prepares to continue their struggle against Ozai. When news of Zhao's death and Iroh's betrayal reaches him, Ozai appoints his daughter Azula to capture both her uncle and older brother while hindering the Avatar in any way before Sozin's Comet makes its return within three years time.

Cast

Production

Development

On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures' MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the Avatar: The Last Airbender series; the first of which would encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One.[18] An announcement, revealing the July 2, 2010 release date was made on April 15, 2008. The film, which was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership,[19] was also titled The Last Airbender.[9]

According to an interview with the co-creators in SFX magazine, Shyamalan came across Avatar when his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween. Intrigued, Shyamalan researched and watched the series with his family. "Watching Avatar has become a family event in my house ... so we are looking forward to how the story develops in season three," said Shyamalan. "Once I saw the amazing world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film."[20] He added he was attracted to the spiritual and martial arts influences on the show.[21]

Avatar co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko voiced their opinion within an interview regarding M. Night Shyamalan writing, directing and producing the film. The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material.[22] Producer Frank Marshall explained that they have high hopes to stick to a PG rating. "I'm not even sure we want to get in the PG-13 realm. Furthermore, Shyamalan said, "I took away a little bit of the slapsticky stuff that was there for the little little kids, the fart jokes and things like that...We grounded Katara's brother...and that really did wonderful things for the whole theme of the movie."[23]

Casting

M. Night Shyamalan originally offered the roles of Aang to Noah Ringer; Sokka to Jackson Rathbone; Katara to Nicola Peltz; and Zuko to Jesse McCartney.[24] In an interview with People, Shyamalan claimed that he did not want to make The Last Airbender without Nicola Peltz, "I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley in The Sixth Sense auditions."[25] In February 2009, Dev Patel replaced Jesse McCartney, whose tour dates conflicted with a boot camp scheduled for the cast to train in martial arts.[26][27] Katharine Houghton and Seychelle Gabriel played "Gran Gran", the grandmother of Katara and Sokka, and Princess Yue, another of Sokka's love interests and princess of the Northern Water Tribe, respectively.[28] Isaac Jin Solstein played an earthbending boy.[29] Aasif Mandvi played Commander Zhao, Cliff Curtis played Fire Lord Ozai, and Keong Sim was cast in the role of an Earthbender.[30]

Ringer, who had never before worked on a film, began practicing Taekwondo, the martial art and national sport of South Korea, at the age of 10.[31] His skills later garnered accolades, including the title of American Taekwondo Association Texas State Champion.[31] Since Aang was bald in the animated series, the actor who portrayed the character would either need to shave his head, or wear a "bald wig". However, Ringer began shaving his head during his martial arts training to help cool off, therefore causing his fans and instructor, all fans of the series, to call him "Avatar".[31] Feeling the connection with the martial arts sequences from the series, Ringer heard about the movie adaptation and, with the help of his instructor, submitted an audition tape.[31] His painted blue arrow on his already shaved head helped secure him the lead role.[31] Having not acted before, Ringer was required to attend acting school a month before filming commenced, calling the film a great experience.[31] Peltz was familiar with the Waterbending character before submitting for the part of Katara, having faithfully watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated series in which the movie is based, with her younger twin brothers.[31] She describes her character as being a big role model with young girls and women, "She’s really mentally and physically strong, strong-willed and -minded, but she’s also caring and compassionate... The movie has a lot of values, but it’s also fun. It’s fantasy, but it’s also a really cool battle between good and evil."[31] She explained that she initially didn't know about Rathbone starring in the Twilight films until after she met him and said that working with Shyamalan was an amazing experience.[31] Rathbone, who originally auditioned for the role of Zuko, was approached by Shyamalan to audition for the film.[32] After waiting for six months, he received a call informing him that he was cast as Sokka.[32] Rathbone stated that his favorite scenes were the fight sequences, which he prepared for by stickfighting.[32]

Patel and Toub in a scene from the film.

Before Slumdog Millionaire was released, Patel auditioned for the role of Zuko by submitting a tape to the studio.[33] Shyamalan called Patel personally to inform him that he got the part.[33] Training for the film was intense, as he had to learn Wushu and different martial arts.[33] Patel's first fight scene filmed called for him to be in a tub of water on a ship; he was to look at a picture of his family, which would give him the urge to fight. Patel recalls fighting, punching, and throwing and said it was truly amazing.[33] While he was filming Slumdog in India, he would finish a take and turn one of the channels over to the animated series.[33] Even though it is based on a cartoon, he wanted to bring as much of himself as possible to the character he was portraying.[33] Shaun Toub, who was cast as Uncle Iroh, describes his character in the first film as "loose" and "free".[34] He compare's Zuko's "obsession" to his childhood memories and how kids are always looking for their parents’ approval, saying that Zuko just wants his father's. "He isn’t necessarily bad, he just has a great deal of built up anger and forgets to consider others. I think people will understand that he’s not bad, he’s just angry and hurting because he really wants his father to love him, but his father is too busy with other things."[34] He says that Patel is an "18 year old with all this energy," and that Patel was able to influence him into appreciating the business of film making more.[34] While comparing the animated series to the film, he says the film is much more serious.[34] He attributed this change to the director trying to relate to every age group, rather than just kids.[34]

The casting of White actors in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered negative reactions from some fans marked by accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign, and various protests.[35][36] "To take this incredibly loved children's series, and really distort not only the ethnicity of the individual characters but the message of acceptance and cultural diversity that the original series advocated, is a huge blow," Michael Le of Racebending.com, a fan site calling for a boycott of the martial-arts fantasy, said.[37] As a result of the casting, the Media Action Network for Asian-Americans urged a movie boycott for the first time in the organization’s 18-year history. "This was a great opportunity to create new Asian-American stars...[nonetheless,] I’m disappointed." fumed Guy Aoki, president of the organization.[38] After a casting call specifically looking for “Caucasians and other ethnicities,” Shyamalan explained that “Ultimately, this movie, and then the three movies, will be the most culturally diverse tent-pole movies ever released, period.” Furthermore, Paramount provided a statement about the casting choices, "The movie has 23 credited speaking roles — more than half of which feature Asian and Pan Asian actors of Korean, Japanese and Indian decent. The filmmaker’s interpretation reflects the myriad qualities that have made this series a global phenomenon. We believe fans of the original and new audiences alike will respond positively once they see it." The studio also took the initiative to screen the film to boycotters at Racebending.com after the 3D conversion was complete.[39]

M. Night Shyamalan commented on the issues regarding fans' perceptive of the casting in an interview with Washington Post columnist Jen Chaney, saying, "Anime is based on ambiguous facial features. It’s meant to be interpretive. It’s meant to be inclusive of all races, and you can see yourself in all these characters...This is a multicultural movie and I’m going to make it even more multicultural in my approach to its casting. There’s African-Americans in the movie...so it’s a source of pride for me. The irony that [protesters] would label this with anything but the greatest pride, that the movie poster has Noah and Dev on it and my name on it. I don’t know what else to do."[40] Rathbone was also one to dismiss the complaints in an interview with MTV, saying, "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."[41] The controversy wasn't well received by critics either.[42] Movie critic Roger Ebert was one of the critical voices against the casting. When asked about casting a white cast to portray the characters, he said, "The original series Avatar: The Last Airbender was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts."[43] Jevon Phillips of the Los Angeles Times noted that despite Shyamalan's attempts to defuse the situation, the issue will "not fade away or be overlooked", and that this film exemplifies the need for a debate within Hollywood about racial diversity in its films.[44]

Filming

Pre-production began in late 2008, while filming began in March 2009 in Greenland. After two weeks, the cast and crew moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, where production designers and special-effects crews worked for several weeks, preparing the local site for the film.[45] A production team scouting the area found the Pagoda on Mount Penn, which served as an ancient temple in the film.[45] Reading, Pennsylvania mayor Tom McMahon explained that crews made road improvements and buried electrical lines surrounding the structure.[45]

Filming also took place in Ontelaunee Township and at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower in Pennsylvania after the production crew finished at the Pagoda. When asked about filming the movie in Reading, Pennsylvania, Pamela Shupp, vice president of Berks Economic Development said, "They needed buildings to shoot all the interiors, and were looking for a group of buildings with high ceilings and specific column spacing. We showed them a number of buildings, but we couldn't come up with enough to meet their requirements. So the interiors will be shot in Philadelphia."[23][45]

Visual effects

With a movie as technologically advanced as Avatar, the expectations of realistically throwing balls of fire and water were pushed to the limit on The Last Airbender.[46] The film presented the opportunity to create and work on a variety of things never seen before, and Pablo Helman, who previously worked on Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, was the visual effects supervisor for the Industrial Light and Magic team on the film.[46] He worked closely with Shyamalan, reviewing each scene and talking about the visual effects needed to tell the story, and ultimately worked with about 300 people to reflect the director's vision, who he said planned it all in a story-board book.[46]

Upper: Water being animated.
Lower: Final version of animated scene.

Industrial Light and Magic was posed with visualizing the elemental tribes of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire; most importantly creating the "bending" styles of these elements.[46] Additionally, they were required to animate inanimate creatures and enhance stunt work with digital doubles. "The work was challenging," shares Helman. "We had to figure out what "bending" is for fire, water, air and earth."[46] The project was started without the desired technology needed to create the effects. Rather than software, computer graphic cards were the basis for "bending" the elements, allowing previews to be viewed more swiftly. This resulted in Shyamalan having to direct more than sixty takes before the effect was finished and lined up with his visions.[46]

Due to reality-based expectations, fire and water were the hardest elements to effectively bend, and because of particle work which was unable to be rendered in hardware, earth bending also was difficult to create.[46] With water, the variety in different scales required Helman and his team to create different techniques. The concept for air was derived from the animation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the series in which the movie is based.[46] In order to create the air bending effect, visual effects art director Christian Alzman and digital matte department supervisor Barry Williams explained that seeing dust and snow particles, rather than seeing the air itself, helped shape the real world effect of bending the element. Before the bending effects could be applied though, the actor's movements had to be matched; Shyamalan therefore wanted each character's bending styles to be unique in order to fit with their unique personalities.[46]

The challenge for fire didn't come with making it look realistic, but rather making the fire behave in an unrealistic way that would be believable to the audience.[46] Though Industrial Light and Magic was founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas, the film that inspired The Last Airbenders fire style was the sixth Harry Potter movie, which was re-engineered in order to reflect two-dimensional simulations.[47] Helman's team referenced images of flames being pushed through the air by giant fans for certain shots needed throughout the film. The team also considered using a meshed image of real and digital fire, but in the end, went with the richer, deeper texture of computer generated flame.[47]

In terms of matte paintings, this was the biggest show that Helman had ever done. The paintings had to be in 3D because the visual style included long duration shots in which the camera always moved.[46] The climax, which was enacted on a 200' by 200' set, had to be incorporated with still of the landscapes shot in Greenland, as well as the low-angle lighting that was captured on location there.[46] The camera was animated to get angles needed for different shots in the film by importing these stills into the computer. Multiple cameras were used to capture the different wire-work and animation that was used to create the creatures and many fight scenes within the film. In creating these creatures, the team referenced nature.[46] In order for them to be believable, they looked for examples of the same size and weight as the animated character and then developed hybrids from different animals to make ech species unique. This was done by observing actual animals to get a take on how they would act.[46] Shamalan's take on the personality of each creature also influenced the creation stage of the creatures. For example, the lemur Momo has flying mechanics based on a giant fruit bat. Other elements, such as texturing, hair or scale simulation, and light and shadow complimentary to the live action, were added to make the final animation appear as real as possible during the later stages of character development.[46]

Paramount Pictures made announcement in late April 2010, revealing that The Last Airbender would continue to follow the 3D trend.[48] This decision came after an increased amount of movies being made or converted to 3D, such as Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans, made a decent profit at the box office.[10] Although Helman stated that Shyamalan's way of shooting without fast edits and the film's visuals could lend itself to the 3D conversion well, James Cameron voiced his disapproval on any film being converted using this process, saying, "You can slap a 3-D label on it and call it 3-D, but there’s no possible way that it can be done up to a standard that anybody would consider high enough."[49][50] Despite this, Shamalan opted to work with Stereo D LLC, the company who worked on James Cameron's own Avatar.[48] The conversion process for the film cost between $5 million and $10 million, adding to the reported $100 million that already went into the film.[10]

Music

The Last Airbender soundtrack cover.

In December 2008, James Newton Howard was announced as the composer for The Last Airbender.[51] The film would mark the seventh collaboration between Howard and M. Night Shyamalan, after the 2008 film The Happening. Most recently, Howard received acclaim for his work with Hans Zimmer on The Dark Knight.[51] On May 13, 2009, producer Frank Marshall announced that Howard was recording music for the teaser trailer that was later released that summer;[52] it was later confirmed by Frank Marshall that all of the film's trailers featured original music by Howard himself.[53] The soundtrack, released by Lakeshore Records on June 29, 2010, required Howard to hire a 119-member ensemble.[54] Running at approximately 66:46 minutes, it contains eleven tracks ranging from three to seven minutes long, with a twelfth track, called "Airbender Suite" running at nearly eleven minutes. Reviews for the score were modestly positive. Danuek Schweiger of IF Magazine gave the score an A, saying the loud music is the only thing that saves the film, "[the] thematically trumpeting, mystically muscular score will let your imagination run wild in- even if that place with Shyamalan is once again best experienced in your own head.".[55] Filmtracks' Christian Clemmensen, who spoke highly of Howard's previous credits, gave the score five out of five possible stars and praised Howard's new-found ability to "[use] the four sections of the orchestra to individually represent the four natural elements," while also criticizing the "narrative flow", which was attributed to the "non-chronological presentation" of the album.[56]

Marketing

Promotion

The teaser trailer for the film was attached to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, released in theaters on June 24, 2009.[57] The teaser trailer was also shown exclusively on the June 22, 2009 episode of Entertainment Tonight.[58] The trailer shows Aang airbending in a temple which is being attacked by a multitude of Fire Nation ships. A theatrical trailer was to be released around Christmas 2009, but it was pushed back until February 2010 because not enough visual effects shots were completed.[59][60] This trailer was attached to the Percy Jackson film released on February 12, 2010.[61] A theatrical trailer was later released on March 25, 2010.[62] It was then attached with How to Train Your Dragon. The last theatrical trailer is attached to Iron Man 2 which was released May 7, 2010.[63]

The first TV spot for the film aired during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010.[64] It showed parts of the film that were not shown in the teaser trailer and had no diagetic dialogue, but merely narration. On February 10, the theatrical trailer was released online.[65] It shows multiple scenes from the movie and is an expanded version of the first TV spot. McDonald's are selling Happy Meals to promote the film.

On February 9, 2010, Nickelodeon Consumer Products also debuted the upcoming line of toys based on The Last Airbender. It includes various 3 3/4-inch action figures, as well as larger, action-enabled figures, costumes and other props. Among the toys featured in the line were figures based on Aang, Prince Zuko, Sokka, Katara, and a fully ride-able Appa the Sky Bison.[66] "We worked very closely with M. Night, the rest of the Paramount team and our in-house design team, along with our partner Spin-Master, to come up with the right assortment, the right size for these action figures and make sure we had representation of all the nations within the 'Airbender' series," said Nickelodeon's Lourdes Arocho. The Last Airbender action figures are expected to be released in three "waves"; wave one on June 1[67], wave two near the movie's July release date, and wave three near the 2010 holiday season.[66] THQ Studio Australia also developed a video game based on the film. Titled The Last Airbender, it was released on June 29, 2010 for the Wii and the Nintendo DS.[68]

Graphic novels

Two original black-and-white graphic novels, entitled The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko's Story and The Last Airbender, drawn in the manga style, were written by Dave Roman. “We’re excited to be working with Nickelodeon to bring these great stories to the manga audience,” says Dallas Middaugh, Associate Publisher of Del Rey Manga. "Avatar: The Last Airbender has shown incredible crossover appeal with manga fans. The release of The Last Airbender movie and original tie-in manga gives us the chance to share completely new stories with Avatar fans looking for more about Aang, Zuko, and their favorite characters.”[69] The second manga, The Last Airbender, illustrated by Joon Choi, was released on June 22, 2010. Written by Dave Roman and Allison Wilgus, the plot, like the film, is a condensed version of the first season of the series.[70]

The prequel, Zuko's Story, is co-written by Alison Wilgus and Dave Roman and illustrated by Nina Matsumoto and was released on May 18, 2010.[71] The synopsis for the graphic novel was released in early 2010, "When Prince Zuko dared to question authority, his father, Fire Lord Ozai, banished him from the Fire Nation. Horribly scarred and stripped of everything he held dear, Zuko has wandered the earth for almost three years in search of his only chance at redemption: the Avatar, a mystical being who once kept the four nations in balance. Everyone he encounters believes that this is an impossible task, as the Avatar disappeared a century ago. But Zuko stubbornly continues the search. He must regain his honor, so his quest is all he has left."[71]

Roman and Wilgus, who developed comics based on Avatar: The Last Airbender for Nick Magazine, consulted Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Mike Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and head writer for the show Aaron Ehasz while they were developing Zuko's Story.[72] The four wanted to try a comic that would fit into with the continuity of the show. The prequel, though mostly associated with the film, was meant to be a prequel to the series.[72] Roman explained, "In a lot of ways, it’s like an expanded origin. With the film and the series, there are differences and there are places where they split off, but the setup for both is exactly the same — so when you’re introduced to the characters, that’s the part where they’re completely identical." The prequel allowed the expansions of different details told in the series; for example, an episode called "The Blue Spirit" in the series was seen in the film.[72] However, since explaining everything that happened in that episode was hard to translate onto film, the prequel allowed for them to "delve" into that specific story. What more, when asked about whether he answered some questions that were left open at the end of the series, Roman stated that, while he had a very good relationship with the show's creators and got their blessing for his project, it wasn't his plot to address.[72]

Release

The Last Airbender was rumored to be released in the summer of 2010 before it received a formal release date of July 1, 2010.[9] In order to avoid confusion with James Cameron's Avatar, the title was changed from Avatar: The Last Airbender to simply The Last Airbender.[9] On June 16, 2010, it was revealed that the film would be released on July 1, 2010, and after questions about the definition of the release being limited or wide, was later confirmed by the studio to be a full nationwide release.[5][73] The film premiered in New York City on June 30, 2010,[14] and opened the following day in 3,169 theaters, against The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[74]

Box office

The Last Airbender opened with $16 million, which includes $3 million from its midnight showing, and earned $16.6 million the following day.[75] The film ranked fifth for a Thursday opening at $16,350,000.[76] After bringing in an estimated $40.3 million over the three-day, Fourth of July weekend, its Monday gross brought its four-day total to an estimated $51.8 million and its five day total at an estimated $69.3 million. 54% of its gross was from 3D presentations at 1,606 screens.[77] After eight days, the film grossed $83.1 million, and was M. Night Shyamalan's second-best eight day gross, behind his 2002 film Signs, and after fifteen days, managed to accumulate $107.4 million.[78][79] In its second weekend the film fell 59% compared to its first, and grossed an estimated $16.6 million marking Shyamalan's most financially successful second weekend, and is also his highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada, since his 2004 film The Village.[80][81][82] Opening overseas in 923 sites, the film grossed an estimated $9 million, $8 million of which was from 870 sites in Russia, making it the number one movie there.[83] The film grossed $9.4 million from its second weekend in overseas markets.[84]

Critical reception

The film has received mostly negative reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that only 7% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 143 reviews, with an average score of 2.8/10.[85] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 7%, based on a sample of 29 reviews.[86] The site's consensus is that "Despite flashy special effects, The Last Airbender squanders the potential of its popular source material on an incomprehensible plot, laughable dialogue, and a joyless sense of detachment."[87] Another aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a "generally unfavorable" weighted mean score of 20 based on 32 reviews.[88]

Liam Lacey stated the movie had little chance to develop its characters and therefore suffered, with the overall storyline of the film becoming a run-on narrative.[89] According to Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly, "The Last Airbender keeps throwing things at you, but its final effect is, in every way, flat."[90] Roger Ebert gave the film half a star in his review, stating that it "bores and alienates its audiences," and notes the poor use of 3D among the film's faults.[91] The A.V. Club gave the film an F, criticizing the performances of the child actors, overuse of exposition, and shoehorned 3D special effects, calling it the worst summer blockbuster of 2010.[92] The Hollywood Reporter said the lack of correct casting caused the film to lose substantial credibility in regard to its source material but did praise the casting and acting of the main character, Aang.[93] Variety criticizes the casting, the scoring, and the overall effect each play into making the film a bore.[94]

Charlie Jane Anders in the review by io9 criticized "the personality-free hero, the nonsensical plot twists, the CG clutter, the bland romance, the new-age pablum...", sarcastically concluding that "Shyamalan's true achievement in this film is that he takes a thrilling cult TV series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and he systematically leaches all the personality and soul out of it — in order to create something generic enough to serve as a universal spoof of every epic, ever."[95] Anders summarized the experience of watching the film by stating that, "Actually, my exact words when I walked out of this film were, 'Wow, this makes Dragonball Evolution look like a masterpiece.'"[96] Ain't It Cool News' review questioned why Shyamalan was allowed to write the script, as well why he was even chosen to direct such a high-profile film after a string of previous flops: "Burdened by [a] never-ending onslaught of expository dialogue awkwardly delivered by actors giving career-worst performances across the board, The Last Airbender is so outrageously bad it's a wonder it ever got before cameras."[97]

Scott Bowles of USA Today gave a generally favorable review, claiming that Shyamalan delivered on fight scenes and the film worked as a kid's movie. He also added that poor scriptwriting made some of the performances sound wooden.[98] Another favorable review came from Stephanie Zacharek of MovieLine, who praises the way Shyamalan captures the art of action and human motion.[99] David Roark of Relevant Magazine accused other critics of having a bias against Shyamalan and gave the film a positive review, stating that its visuals and heart far outweighed the shoddy script.[100]

In a New York's Vulture interview, Shyamalan argued that his style and art-form of storytelling resulted in the negative reviews of the film and compared it to asking a painter to change to a different style, "I bring as much integrity to the table as humanly possible. It must be a language thing, in terms of a particular accent, a storytelling accent. I can only see it this certain way and I don't know how to think in another language. I think these are exactly the visions that are in my head, so I don't know how to adjust it without being me."[101]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian noted an unfortunate linguistic problem that reduced British viewers to "a state of nervous collapse". In British English the word "bender" is slang for a homosexual male, giving an entirely different meaning to lines such as "I could tell at once that you were a bender, and that you would realise your destiny." Bradshaw commented that the response from the audience to such lines was "deafeningly immature" and would "inevitably be repeated in every cinema in the land showing The Last Airbender."[102]

Sequels

M. Night Shyamalan wrote a rough draft of The Last Airbender 2 while filming the first film.[103] Shyamalan confirmed he intends to continue the series, and that the main antagonist for the second and third film will be Azula, portrayed by Summer Bishil in The Last Airbender, and also said with her addition, the second film will be darker, while the third will be more ambiguous.[103] Paramount's decision on a sequel will probably come with a short synopsis for the second film, but Shyamalan confirmed that the Kyoshi Warriors, which were planned to be in the first film, but omitted because of pacing, would play a larger role.[103] Since the first movie was converted to 3D, Shyamalan plans to film the second movie in 3D, rather than to go through the conversion process again, and also plans to use the same basic crew for the second film that was used in the first film.[103]

References

  1. ↑ "The Last Airbender | Movie". Moviefone.com. 2010-06-24. http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-last-airbender/36563/main. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Eller, Claudia (June 25, 2010). "'Last Airbender' carries Shyamalan into new territory". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5qkFtBF4y. Retrieved June 25, 2010. 
  3. ↑ "The Last Airbender (2010)". Box Office Mojo. August 22, 2010. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lastairbender.htm. Retrieved August 22, 2010. 
  4. ↑ "The Last Airbender - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. August 20, 2010. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2010/BENDR.php. Retrieved August 22, 2010. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 DiOrio, Carl (June 16, 2010). "'Last Airbender' release moved up one day". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3idc38443dc8d2ef1ab9112cc69b8ac645. Retrieved June 17, 2010. 
  6. ↑ Sarafin, Jarrod (June 10, 2008). "Paramount and M.Night Shyamalan Previews LAST AIRBENDER". Mania Entertainment. http://www.mania.com/paramount-mnight-shyamalan-previews-last-airbender_article_58631.html?campid=0&ssns=29&. Retrieved June 29, 2008. 
  7. ↑ "The Last Airbender (2010)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lastairbender.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
  8. ↑ "Slumdog's Patel Cast in The Last Airbender". ComingSoon.net. 2009-02-02. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52491. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Stephenson, Hunter (April 15, 2008). "M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender Gets Release Date, Director Update, “Avatar” Dropped From Title". /FILM. http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/04/15/m-night-shyamalans-the-last-airbender-gets-release-date-avatar-dropped-from-title/. Retrieved June 29, 2008. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Schuker, Lauren A.E. (April 22, 2010). "‘The Last Airbender’ to Get 3-D Treatment". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/04/22/the-last-airbender-to-get-3-d-treatment/. Retrieved April 24, 2010. 
  11. ↑ "Iron Man 2 leads the charge this summer: Rediff.com Movies". Movies.rediff.com. 2010-05-04. http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/may/04/iron-man-2-leads-the-charge-this-summer.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-08. 
  12. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i68061ff8eae6a637ce15f10f7be4da48
  13. ↑ "'Eclipse' Dips on Thursday, 'Airbender' Debuts Solidly". Box Office Mojo. 2010-02-07. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2847&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 LMCullen. "VIPs bei der Premiere von ‘The Last Airbender In 3D’ in NY". Eclipse Movie. http://www.eclipsemovie.org/scrumptious-pictures-of-jackson-rathbone-at-the-last-airbender-premiere/vips-bei-der-premiere-von-the-last-airbender-in-3d-in-ny-2/. Retrieved 2010-07-08. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Nicole Sperling (December 10, 2008). "Shyamalan lines up his cast for 'The Last Airbender'". Entertainment Weekly. http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/shyamalan-casts.html. Retrieved December 10, 2008. 
  16. ↑ Michael Fleming (February 1, 2009). "Shyamalan cast floats on 'Air'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999413.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562. Retrieved February 1, 2009. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "More are cast in M. Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender". Sci Fi Wire. March 13, 2009. http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/more-are-cast-in-m-night.php. Retrieved March 13, 2009. 
  18. ↑ "M. Night Shyamalan to direct "Avatar: The Last Airbender"". Mania.com. http://www.mania.com/m-night-shyamalan-to-direct-avatar-last-airbender_article_53268.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  19. ↑ Pamela McClintock (January 8, 2007). "Shyamalan's 'Avatar' also to bigscreen". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956950.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2564. Retrieved January 9, 2007. 
  20. ↑ ""Nickelodeon's Avatar Returns to Restore Peace to The Four Corners of the World and Prepares to Face Off With the Fire Nation Once and for All". January 2009. http://www.viacom.com/NEWS/NewsText.aspx?RID=1048320. 
  21. ↑ Mike Szymanski (October 7, 2008). "Shyamalan Unveils Airbender Secrets". Sci Fi Wire. http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=61081. Retrieved October 7, 2008. 
  22. ↑ Mike Szymanski (March 17, 2007). "Avatar Creators Praise Night". Sci Fi Wire. http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=3&id=40610. Retrieved March 17, 2006. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Secrets And Glimpses Of The Last Airbender Filming – M. Night Shyamalan". io9. 2009-06-23. http://io9.com/5301315/secrets-and-glimpses-of-the-last-airbender-filming?skyline=true&s=x. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  24. ↑ Sperling, Nicole (2008-12-10). "Shyamalan lines up his cast for 'The Last Airbender' | EW.com". Hollywoodinsider.ew.com. http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/10/shyamalan-casts/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  25. ↑ Dyball, Rennie (2010-02-01). "3 Reasons to Watch for Actress Nicola Peltz - Movie News, M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Pattinson". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20340703,00.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  26. ↑ Michael Fleming (2009-02-01). "Shyamalan cast floats on 'Air'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999413.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  27. ↑ "Slumdog Millionaire Star Joins The Last Airbender| /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2009-02-01. http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/02/01/slumdog-millionaire-star-joins-the-last-airbender/. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
  28. ↑ "Inqlings: For Manuel, a job he can phone in". Philly.com. 2009-04- 09. http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20090405_Inqlings__For_Manuel__a_job_he_can_phone_in.html. Retrieved 2009-03-13. 
  29. ↑ Connelly, Brendon (June 9, 2009). "New Last Airbender Casting Stays On Right Side Of Racebending Debate?". /Film. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mbSuk05U. Retrieved January 7, 2010. 
  30. ↑ "More are cast in M. Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender". Sci Fi Wire. 2009-03-13. http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/more-are-cast-in-m-night.php. Retrieved 2009-03-13. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 31.7 31.8 Jun 30, 2010 (2010-06-30). ""THE LAST AIRBENDER" set visit: Nicola Peltz and Noah Ringer". Fangoria.com. http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?id=1295:the-last-airbender-set-visit-nicola-peltz-and-noah-ringer&option=com_content&catid=36:demo-articles&Itemid=56. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Dart, Allan (2010-07-02). "STARLOG's "THE LAST AIRBENDER" set visit: Jackson Rathbone". Fangoria.com. http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1321:starlogs-qthe-last-airbenderq-set-visit-jackson-rathbone&catid=36:demo-articles&Itemid=56. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 Jul 05, 2010 (2010-07-05). "STARLOG's "LAST AIRBENDER" set visit: Dev Patel". Fangoria.com. http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1335:starlogs-qlast-airbenderq-set-visit-dev-patel&catid=36:demo-articles&Itemid=56. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 Jul 01, 2010 (2010-07-01). "STARLOG's "THE LAST AIRBENDER" set visit: Shaun Toub". Fangoria.com. http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1314:qthe-last-airbenderq-set-visit-shaun-toub&catid=36:demo-articles&Itemid=56. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  35. ↑ Graeme McMillan (2008-12-17). "Avatar Casting Makes Fans See... White". io9 (Gawker Media). http://io9.com/5111680/avatar-casting-makes-fans-see-white. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
  36. ↑ Jeff Yang (2008-12-29). "'Avatar' an Asian thing- why isn't the cast?". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/28/DDMU15ICE4.DTL. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
  37. ↑ Hajela, Deepti (2010-05-25). "Critics: ‘Airbender’ & ‘Prince’ were ‘whitewashed’". Associated Press. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37336714. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  38. ↑ Aucoin, Don (2010-07-04). "‘Airbender’ reopens race debate". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/07/04/last_airbender_opens_debate_on_race/?page=full. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
  39. ↑ Lee,Chris (2010-05-22). "Hollywood whitewash? 'Airbender' and 'Prince of Persia' anger fans with ethnic casting". The Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/05/racebending.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  40. ↑ Chaney, Jen (2010-07-01). "Talking with director M. Night Shyamalan about 'Last Airbender,' race and more". The Washington Post- Celebritology. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2010/07/talking_with_director_m_night.html. Retrieved 2010-07-01. 
  41. ↑ Larry Carroll (2009-01-15). "'Twilight' Star Jackson Rathbone Hopes To 'Show His Range' In 'Last Airbender'". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1602757/story.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
  42. ↑ Hoffman, Jordan (2010-05-21). "Racebending – The Controversy Continues – The Last Airbender". UGO.com. http://www.ugo.com/movies/airbender-casting-call-controversy-continues. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
  43. ↑ Roger Ebert (December 23, 2009). "Answer Man". Roger Ebert. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=ANSWERMAN&date=20091223. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
  44. ↑ Phillips, Jevon (2010-04-07). "'The Last Airbender' is causing a casting commotion". The Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2010/04/the-last-airbender-causes-a-casting-commotion.html. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 George Hatza (April 1, 2009). "'Sixth Sense' director shooting new movie in Reading beginning Thursday; Pagoda to get a close-up". Reading Eagle. http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=131944. Retrieved April 1, 2009. 
  46. ↑ 46.00 46.01 46.02 46.03 46.04 46.05 46.06 46.07 46.08 46.09 46.10 46.11 46.12 46.13 46.14 "ILM Bends Fantasy into Reality in The Last Airbender | Below the Line". Btlnews.com. 2010-07-01. http://www.btlnews.com/crafts/ilm-bends-fantasy-into-reality-in-the-last-airbender/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "'The Last Airbender' and ILM's quest for fire | Hero Complex | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. July 1, 2010. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/07/last-airbender-and-ilms-quest-for-fire.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Fleming, Mike (2010-04-22). "Paramount And M. Night Shyamalan Make ‘Airbender’ Into 3D Conversion –". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/2010/04/airbender-goes-3d/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  49. ↑ Howell, Peter (2010-04-22). "Avatar's Cameron calls for 3-D watchdog". Toronto: thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/799551--cameron-to-hollywood-we-need-3-d-watchdog. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  50. ↑ "'The Last Airbender' and 'The Green Hornet' convert to 3D - Films, Arts & Entertainment". London: The Independent. 2010-04-23. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/the-last-airbender-and-the-green-hornet-convert-to-3d-1952949.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 "James Newton Howard To Score The Last Airbender | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2008-12-19. http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/19/james-newton-howard-to-score-the-last-airbender/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  52. ↑ LeDoctor. "Frank Marshall (LeDoctor) on Twitter". Twitter.com. http://twitter.com/LeDoctor/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  53. ↑ "News Tidbits: Iron Man 2, The Last Airbender and xXx 3D | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2010-04-02. http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/04/02/news-tidbits-iron-man-2-the-last-airbender-and-xxx-3d/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  54. ↑ "The Last Airbender". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:09fpxzudldse. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  55. ↑ Schweiger, Daniel (July 2, 2010). "CD Review: 'The Last Airbender' - Original Soundtrack". If Magazine. http://www.ifmagazine.com/review.asp?article=4184. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  56. ↑ "The Last Airbender (James Newton Howard)". Filmtracks. 2010-06-29. http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/last_airbender.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  57. ↑ Sciretta, Peter (April 28, 2009). "The Last Airbender Teaser Trailer Attached to Transformers 2". /Film. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mcH0UvTt. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  58. ↑ Sciretta, Peter (June 20, 2009). "A Brief First Look at The Last Airbender Teaser Trailer". /Film. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mcHAWLNN. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  59. ↑ Sciretta, Peter (August 24, 2009). "The Last Airbender Trailer For Christmas". /Film. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mcGIxxA7. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  60. ↑ Sciretta, Peter (December 3, 2009). "The Last Airbender Trailer Delayed Until February". /Film. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mcGq8e9b. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  61. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (December 21, 2009). "Who's Buying What in the Super Bowl 2010". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5mcG5TTnG. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  62. ↑ "Alternate Trailer for The Last Airbender Online". ComingSoon.net. 2010-03-25. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=64546. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  63. ↑ "Twitter / Frank Marshall: New AIRBENDER trailer is l". Twitter.com. http://twitter.com/LeDoctor/status/11463163016. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  64. ↑ "Last Airbender’s Super Bowl Ad Unleashes Elemental Fun". Wired. 2010-02-05. http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/02/last-airbender-super-bowl/. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  65. ↑ "New Trailer for The Last Airbender!". ComingSoon.net. 2010-02-10. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=63186. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 "M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Last Airbender’ Toys Arrive!". Splashpage.mtv.com. 2010-01-26. http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/02/09/m-night-shyamalans-the-last-airbender-toys-arrive/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  67. ↑ "The Last Airbender: Appa and Other Characters Revealed!". Screen Rant. 2010-02-09. http://screenrant.com/the-last-airbender-toys-kofi-44634/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  68. ↑ http://us.thq.com/us/game/detail/5799
  69. ↑ "The Last Airbender Manga from Del Rey and Nickelodeon". M. Night Fans. 2009-07-30. http://www.mnightfans.com/the-last-airbender-manga-from-del-rey-and-nickelodeon/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  70. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Last-Airbender-Dave-Roman/dp/0345518551/ref=pd_sim_b_5
  71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 "EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko’s Story’ Preview". Splashpage.mtv.com. 2010-05-13. http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/05/12/the-last-airbender-prequel-zukos-story-preview/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 72.2 72.3 "‘The Last Airbender’ Q&A: Exploring ‘Zuko’s Story’ With Co-Writer Dave Roman". Splashpage.mtv.com. 2010-05-17. http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/05/17/the-last-airbender-qa-exploring-zukos-story-with-co-writer-dave-roman/. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  73. ↑ "The Last Airbender Opens One Day Earlier". http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=67082. 
  74. ↑ "Theater Counts for Week 27 of 2010". Boxofficemojo.com. 2010-01-07. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2010&wk=27&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  75. ↑ Finke, Nikki (July 5, 2010). "FIREWORKS FOR 'ECLIPSE': Can't Beat 'New Moon' But Still $280M Worldwide; 'Last Airbender' & 'Toy Story 3' Overperform". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/thursday-box-office-eclipse-25m-the-last-airbender-16m-toy-story-3-8m/. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
  76. ↑ "Opening Thursday Records at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=thu&p=.htm. Retrieved July 3, 2010. 
  77. ↑ "'Eclipse' Swoons But Sweeps Up Over Independence Weekend". Box Office Mojo. July 6, 2010. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2852&p=.htm. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
  78. ↑ "Seven-Day Summary: 'Eclipse' Leaps Past $200 Million". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2857&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  79. ↑ "Seven-Day Summary: 'Despicable Me' Crushes 'Eclipse,' 'Predators'". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2861&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  80. ↑ "M. Night Shyamalan Movie Box Office Results". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Director&id=shyamalan.htm. Retrieved July 30, 2010. 
  81. ↑ "Weekend Report: 'Despicable Me' Dominates, 'Predators' Solid But Unspectacular". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2858&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  82. ↑ Chaney, Jen. "Celebritology 2.0 - Weekend box office: 'Despicable Me' triumphs over 'Twilight'". Voices.washingtonpost.com. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2010/07/weekend_box_office_despicable.html. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  83. ↑ Segers, Frank (July 12, 2010). "'Eclipse' still has bite at No. 1 overseas". Hollywoodreporter.com. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ic1df212a5f55796f8e1cd748b261e9b1?utm. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
  84. ↑ "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Inception' Still Spinning on Top". Box Office Mojo. 2010-04-08. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2873&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  85. ↑ "The Last Airbender (2010) – Reviews, Ratings, and Trailers". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/?name_order=asc. Retrieved August 21, 2010. 
  86. ↑ "The Last Airbender (2010) – Reviews, Ratings, and Trailers". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/?critic=creamcrop. Retrieved July 16, 2010. 
  87. ↑ "The Last Airbender Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. 2010-06-25. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/. Retrieved 2010-07-01. 
  88. ↑ "Last Airbender, The reviews at". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lastairbender. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
  89. ↑ Canada. "The Last Airbender: Another bend in Shyamalan’s career". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/the-last-airbender-another-bend-in-shyamalans-career/article1624623/. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  90. ↑ Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman (2010-06-27). "The Last Airbender | Movies". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20398345,00.html. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  91. ↑ "The Last Airbender". Chicago Sun-Times. 2010-06-30. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999. 
  92. ↑ Keith Phipps (2010-06-30). "The Last Airbender". A.V. Club. The Onion. http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-last-airbender,42682/. Retrieved 2010-07-01. 
  93. ↑ Honeycutt, Kirk. "The Last Airbender – Film Review". Hollywoodreporter.com. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/the-last-airbender-film-review-1004101704.story. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  94. ↑ By (2010-06-30). "The Last Airbender Review – Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie The Last Airbender". Variety.com. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943102.html?categoryId=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  95. ↑ "M. Night Shyamalan Finally Made A Comedy". 2010-07-01. http://io9.com/5576076/m-night-shyamalan-finally-made-a-comedy. 
  96. ↑ "M. Night Shyamalan Finally Made A Comedy". 2010-07-01. http://io9.com/comment/25368399/. 
  97. ↑ "If It Bends, It's Funny! If It Breaks, It's Mr. Beaks's THE LAST AIRBENDER Review!". 2010-07-01. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45651. 
  98. ↑ Scott Bowles (2010-07-01). "Shyamalan's 'Airbender' has some good elements". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-07-01-airbender01_ST_N.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-01. 
  99. ↑ "REVIEW: A Few Nifty Visuals Can't Rescue Exhausting Last Airbender". Movieline. 2010-06-09. http://www.movieline.com/2010/07/review-a-few-nifty-visuals-cant-rescue-exhausting-last-airbender.php. Retrieved 2010-07-02. 
  100. ↑ "REVIEW: The Last Airbender: David Roark Says All the Other Critics Are (Mostly) Wrong". RELEVANT Magazine. 2010-07-02. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/film/reviews/22137-the-last-airbender. Retrieved 2010-07-07. 
  101. ↑ New York Magazine. "M. Night Shyamalan Responds to Negative 'Airbender' Reviews". http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/07/m_night_shyamalan_on_the_last.html. 
  102. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (2010-08-13). "Film review: The Last Airbender". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/12/the-last-airbender. 
  103. ↑ 103.0 103.1 103.2 103.3 Warmoth, Brian (2010-07-06). "'Last Airbender 2' Will Be 'Darker,' M. Night Shyamalan Says - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News". Mtv.com. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1643066/20100706/story.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 

External links

Nickelodeon Movies
1990s
Harriet the Spy • Good Burger • The Rugrats Movie
2000s
Snow Day • Rugrats in Paris: The Movie • Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius • Clockstoppers • Hey Arnold!: The Movie • The Wild Thornberrys Movie • Rugrats Go Wild • The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie • Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events • Yours, Mine and Ours • Mad Hot Ballroom • Nacho Libre • Barnyard • Charlotte's Web • The Spiderwick Chronicles • Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging • Hotel for Dogs • Imagine That
2010s
The Last Airbender • Rango
Films directed by M. Night Shyamalan
1990s
Praying with Anger (1992) · Wide Awake (1998) · The Sixth Sense (1999)
2000s
Unbreakable (2000) · Signs (2002) · The Village (2004) · Lady in the Water (2006) · The Happening (2008)
2010s
The Last Airbender (2010)