93 - The Last Airbender

This week (at the demand of a patron), we’re acting really poorly, under terrible direction, and shoving in a lot of exposition, all while discussing M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 disaster ‘The Last Airbender’.

The Last Airbender is a 2010 American action-adventure fantasy film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Based on the first season of the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the film stars Noah Ringer as Aang, with Dev Patel as Prince Zuko, Nicola Peltz as Katara and Jackson Rathbone as Sokka. Development for the film began in 2007. It was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Premiering in New York City on June 30, 2010, it opened the following day in the rest of the US grossing an estimated $16 million.

The film was universally panned by critics, audiences and fans of the original animated series alike upon its release with many reviewers citing inconsistencies between the plot, screenplay and source material as well as deriding the acting, writing, casting and dialogue. The film's 3D conversion was also criticized. However, James Newton Howard's score received critical acclaim. The film swept the Golden Raspberry Awards in 2010, with five "wins" including Worst Picture; the film is sometimes considered one of the worst ever made. The Last Airbender opened in second place at the box office behind The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Produced on a $150 million budget, the film grossed $131 million domestically and $319 million worldwide. It is the fourth highest grossing Nickelodeon film, behind The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011).[2][6] The film was originally envisioned as the first in a trilogy of Last Airbender films each based on the three seasons of the show, but due to the unpopularity and the low profits of the first film, the planned trilogy was left in doubt for many years. In 2018, Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko announced a live-action remake of the animated series on Netflix, effectively ending any chance of future films.

If you like this podcast, or hate it and us and want to tell us so - You can reach us at [email protected]

Or,

Twitter - @WeWatchedAThing

Facebook - @WeWatchedAThing

Instagram - @WeWatchedAThing

and on iTunes and Youtube

If you really like us and think we’re worth at least a dollar, why not check out our patreon at http://patreon.com/wewatchedathing. Every little bit helps, and you can get access to bonus episodes, early releases, and even tell us what movies to watch.