We are very pleased to announce that Last Airbender Film has been invited by our friends at Paramount Pictures to participate in a filmed round table discussion with director M. Night Shyamalan, in which your questions about the film will be answered! The event will be held next week in New York City on March 11.
To submit your question for consideration, all you have to do is send us an e-mail with your name and question to askmnight@lastairbenderfilm.com. Questions must be submitted no later than 12 PM EST on March 10.
Tags: aang, airbender, avatar, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Interview, m. night, Paramount Studios, shyamalan
March 5, 2010 at 4:44 am |
With the major focus of Avatar: The Last Airbender, being on bending, specfically martial arts, how true would you say you stayed to the origins? Such as Ba Gua and airbending, and tai chi and waterbending.
March 5, 2010 at 7:40 am |
Why are the good guys suddenly white and the bad guys brown? When casting for the main leads – Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko – casters specifically asked for “Caucasian or any other race”. Why the emphasis on Caucasian? Why have all the Asian elements from the show been stripped from the movie? Aang has a *cross* on his back! And of course, he must “save the world from darkness” …did you realize how that would look with a white hero juxtaposed against brown villains?
How can you claim to be a fan of the original series when you’ve ruined the movie with racism and, quite frankly, a generic script that takes all the beauty and charm of A:TLA and makes some generic CGI film?
March 6, 2010 at 3:46 am |
dude get off the white washing. -____- idk what the big deal is. its a movie, and if you wanna go complain about the actors not being asian some more, do it somewhere else.
March 10, 2010 at 6:16 pm |
xDD so true. After all, good people can be any race, bad people can be any race. What people don’t seem to acknowledge is that by emphasizing that whites should be the “bad guys” they too are giving into racism.
Racism isn’t just against blacks or asians, it’s against ANY race, so chill, Elizabeth. If you’re that “torn up” over it, then go watch some kung fu movie and ignore this one. 
dumb hypocrites..
March 6, 2010 at 4:45 am |
Elizabeth L. — I think it’s great that you are concerned about the film, but it’s frankly rather stupid of you to force us to endure your protests.
If you ask me, I think that the whole Racebending group itself is just racist against caucasians.
.:lotus:.
March 9, 2010 at 3:13 pm |
Nick, Lotus, I strongly disagree with your statements. This movie is based off a cartoon which is based off of Asian culture. To say you don’t see the “big deal” is simply arrogance. The characters were created to be Asian but the cast isn’t, that’s deliberately choosing to ignore a certain aspect, a race of humans with feelings, and exploiting everything else about that culture because it’s “cool.” So, we’re not going to do it somewhere else because no other film currently in production is committing something so despicable.
Lotus, it’s not racist. The characters were originally Asian. That’s all there is to it. I’m white by the way.
March 10, 2010 at 6:30 pm
It’s not ignorance, it’s sensibility. It’s too late to make a difference anyway, and the only reason it’s a big problem is because you all are looking at it with such a racist mindset. I personally think it is beyond idiotic to be FORCED to include every type of race just for the sake of saying “Yes, I have that race in there”. It’s hypocritical, that’s basically it. You say “everyone’s equal” then you protest when there are more whites than another race, and you’re all hunky-dory when there are more of another race than whites. You don’t honestly believe everyone is equal, you just want to support your own race. In reality this show is American, with Asian influence. Now, “Asia” means both India and China, in case you didn’t realize that little bit of info.
Secondly, these nations AREN’T IN OUR WORLD! Meaning that *gasp* you wont find Airbenders in New York, or waterbenders in Florida. I know, shocking, right? So whatever shall we do if we do not have these characters in our world? Oh! That’s right, find someone who looks similar. In case you didn’t notice, that “similar look” happens to be mainly Caucasian. However, the waterbenders tend to have a more Inuit look, while a few characters have noticeably Chinese features, such as Monk Giatso and a few of the airbending elders. The rest of the world, however, mainly features Caucasian appearances. After all; if you take 2 cosplayers, 1 Chinese and 1 Caucasian, you will see that the Caucasian one tends to look more like the character. It is because of this teensy detail that they cast Caucasians. The idea of casting Asians just for the sake of having Asians in the movie is simply idiotic, and will only succeed in giving into the personal biases of the racist. I support making the cast look like their characters. It is because of this that I support the appearance of Aang, while I wish Katara and Sokka had a darker tan, and I also think Zuko should have been Chinese, for his character has a mild Chinese facial structure. I do not support casting based on the biases of ignorant individuals such as yourself, but rather casting them based on talent and appearance so as to properly portray the character. Going by those 2 conditions, I can so far say they have done decently well to portray the characters, and I will later see the talent involved, so as to give a fully-informed judgment on the quality of the cast.
March 25, 2010 at 4:39 am
You could argue this into circles with that kind of logic.
The only reason it’s not a big problem is because you are looking at it without looking at the sociological perspective of symbolic interaction.
I’m not protest the QUANTITY of any races, I’m protesting the fact that white people were used for main leads that shouldn’t have been white. No where in my comment did I say anything about the fact that too many white people were used. Also, no where in my comment did I say that I was Asian, way to come into a discussion with such an obvious bias. I hope you didn’t create the rest of your argument with such a perspective, oh wait, you did.
You are far too presumptuous, first of all. I never said anything about China or India not being part of Asia, I simply said Asia or Asian. Please understand I’m drawing a line between Asians and Caucasians, not within each – as you obviously were unable to comprehend that in the first place.
So this world isn’t in our world, what a shock. Alright, I accept your logic. Wait, what about the Chinese Kanji characters used for the show? Aren’t those from our world? They are! What about those orange gowns those bald people wear? What’s that? Monks have been wearing those for hundreds of years, longer than this world was ever conceived of and they’re bald too? Shocking! And those martial arts used to bend the elements are also based off of martial arts in this world? Holy moly! Biggest shocker, the name Avatar the TITLE of the show has the same name as Hindu Deity! Who knew that there were such similarities between the two worlds?! And the biggest coincidence is the fact that they all come from Asian cultures!
Your logic fails, everything parallels back to our world and Asian culture. Please, pull out all the usage of Asian culture, and then race wouldn’t matter. But then, you wouldn’t have anything, boo hoo.
I’m just such a bigot, so ignorant and uninformed about my judgement. It’s not like humans have ever done this before to keep the minority down. Only in some perfect world would this have never existed. White people ripped Rock ‘n Roll from black people. The Elvis was pretty much repackaged black music, because black music was popular, black people weren’t.
Fact is, this American cartoon, influenced by all things Asian and drawn in South Korea has been white washed by putting Caucasian leads into the roles. You can argue that the characters look Caucasian all you want, but the symbolic interaction of putting a Caucasian lead with Asian villains will continue to portray Asians as bad and abnormal. Way to continue the trend of putting Asians down. Perhaps next up, we can have a Bill Cosby Movie, with White Actors, except for the boyfriends that break the girls heart. No? Too much public backlash?
But not for the Asians. We can use their culture, we can use their everything of theirs except the people as leads.
March 6, 2010 at 5:20 am |
This question for M Knight is for relationships, Will the next 3 movies have any sign to a relationship for Aang and Katara, also for Sokka and Suki, seeing how the relationship subject will be a bit popular?
March 6, 2010 at 5:16 pm |
How close will Appa be to the show?
March 6, 2010 at 7:23 pm |
Hello
I don’t believe there were racist intentions but the main problem is that the cast don’t spark the imagination of many of the true fans and have lost the essence of what made the world of the avatar enchanting.
for example Uncle Iroh being played by Shaun Toub doesn’t sit right with the Confucious like demeanour of his character, nor is Jackson Rathbone reminiscent of a goofy Sokka and the same could be said for Prince Zuco ( i feel Jesse Mcartney would have worked way better than Dev).
How did you intend to make it work with them and what was the reason you picked them and how have you attempted to stay true to who the characters are?
March 9, 2010 at 4:34 am |
Hey that’s cool that you have you’re own opinion moh, but it’s my opinion that it’s not good to assume so much of the characters before the movie. I mean, we’ve only heard one line from Jackson rathbone, one from katara, and the two narrarators. I mean we’ve barely even seen dev patel move as prince zuko, let alone seen how he could play him. Personally I think dev has the zuko hardness and desperation that Jesse never could.
March 7, 2010 at 11:23 pm |
Mr.Shamalan, do you realize that you became throw this movie endless count of people who are hating you. and you are kind of target of all that bad energies. im not hating you just a little worried about you.
take care,
god bless you and save you!
July 2, 2010 at 11:11 pm |
I so agree with you. I’ve been going around for days trying to clarify and clear the problems about people’s false leads to this movie. The movie was great.
You guys need to give Shyamalan more credit. He’s a great director to choose Avatar, after all, no one else bothered to respect our favorite show like turning it into a movie! HELLO, where’s the respect and honor they influence in the Avatar series we learned from, you all (the negative thinkers) ARE THE ONES ruining Avatar.
I don’t like being mean…. I sincerely and honestly mean it, I would never mean to hurt someone’s feelings. But you guys are comparing the Avatar series and the movie far too seriously.
1. He’s not racist. Who would you rather want to play Zuko or Katara or Sokka? Do you want Dev Patel to bleach his skin like Nikki Reed for Twilight? Do you want Nicola and Jackson to get a tan? That’s horrible. It’s shows that you’d want a movie more identical to the cartoon then try to bring out a more majestic and spiritual side to Avatar like Shyamalan did.
2. The reason the actors bend slowly is because there’s more action to bending. The movie shows that it takes more concentration and energy to control the elements. It shows how great and powerful bending the elements can be for those gifted benders.
3. Shyamalan has openly admitted he turn the running time of the movie into hours to fit in the greatness and complexity of Avatar if he could. He felt awful about cutting about people and scenes like the Kyoshi Warriors.
I’m sorry I put this message on you, but I was hoping you’d spread this to others.
please.
March 8, 2010 at 1:46 am |
Will this movie be humorous as it was in the television series, and also when are there going to be more trailers coming out because im dieing to see more
March 8, 2010 at 5:21 am |
Even if the first film is not as much of a success as it is hoped to be, will you still make the second and third films as well?
Also, what is your reaction to all the negative “race -bending” comments that have been made about the cast!
March 9, 2010 at 4:40 pm |
Mr. Shyamalan: 1st, i’m a big fan of your movies and the avatar show either. 2nd, there are rumors that said that in the movie the firebenders will need a source of fire, that’s truth?. 3rd, when will you start to film the 2nd movie?
July 3, 2010 at 1:20 pm |
Yeah, when will the second movie premiere or when will release any trailers?!
Oh, by the way, for your second question… yes they need a source of fire. You can go on Youtube and look for The Last Airbender Revealed. Shyamalan told us on the video.
March 9, 2010 at 7:17 pm |
Mr. “Night”,
When did you decide money was the number one driving force behind all your creative decision making?
Why do you think America is not ready for an Asian hero?
Thanks for selling out.
March 10, 2010 at 6:32 pm |
wow.. ignorant much? xD Please read my comment above :3
May 31, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Stop trolling the place please. If you want to argue go somewhere else. You are the ignorant one here. You do realize that this page is for people with questions to Mr. M. Night Shyamalan.
March 10, 2010 at 7:42 pm |
Mr. Shyamalan
My name is Liberty, I’m deaf and half-hard hearing, I’m huge fan of last airbender and I’m sure i’ll love it no matter what, It’s an adaptation. Be greatful they got the most talented crew in films this century, working on the film. Believe me, i’m not like the others that complain if it doesn’t look just right. I was just a lil curious. I’m loving everything im gettin out of this movie. You’d be surprised the power of a little thing called movie magic. Lol. I for one am very excited about the whole thing..
I wonder i would like to say a few more questions for you..
Why do you made “Avatar: The Last Airbender” movie to determined and what do you feel you think?
Which aspect of The Last Airbender are you most proud of? Which are you most insipred of?
Has it been difficult to find a balance between the movie’s functionality and the fans’ expectations for it?
How odd was it for you to make a movie depending on a variety of special effects and fight scenes?
Were you afraid of leaving stuff out from the series?
How were Noah Ringer’s tattoos applied? Were they applied by hand? Was it something semi-permanent that didn’t fade for several days, or did it have to be reapplied every day? Was a stencil used?
Are you still hoping to film the sequel films, no matter how TLA does in the box office?
That’s all for now, Thanks you.. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for some time.
March 11, 2010 at 4:32 am |
How closely are you following the series? I understand the creators are also on set, but the first book alone is far too long to make a single movie about it. What did you leave out? and why?
March 11, 2010 at 8:31 am |
What made you choose to deviate from the source material’s cultural influences in terms of race (i.e. the casting sheets implying a preference for Caucasian actors) and signifigant cultural indicators like calligraphy, but keep the setting and some of the costumes thus giving off the implications of cultural appropriation?
July 3, 2010 at 1:18 pm |
I don’t want to answer for M. Nigh Shyamalan. But please understand this has nothing to do with color, skin, or racism. Sokka as (white) Jackson Rathbone and Katara as (white) Nicola Peltz has no relation to this idea of casting the main characters as Caucasian. There were lots of Caucasians, Asians, and other kinds that auditioned for this part.
If this has anything to do with you (may or may not) thinking they didn’t act too well on trailers or even the movie, it had nothing to do with casting because of their skin. You’re thinking FAR TOO LITERALLY when you compare and contrast the changes of Avatar and The Last Airbender Movie.
Conclusion; he did not cast Caucasian actors because he planned on it. Thousands of people auditioned and Nicola and Jackson’s skin was just a side piece of info. It truly isn’t something to take seriously. Please forgive me if I seem harsh or mean.
Mr. Shyamalan, you can answer this question too if you wish.
March 13, 2010 at 8:01 pm |
I can’t wait to see the movie the last airbender. Especially how Aang shows his airbending techniques.
March 19, 2010 at 7:41 pm |
Mr. Shyamalan
What was the main reason for you choosing to do this Film? And did you watch the show? If you did watch the show Who was your favorite character?
March 29, 2010 at 6:48 pm |
He answered the questions you just stated already in another interview, but I’m still curious as to whether or not he watched the ENTIRE series or just a few episodes. From factual evidence that Mr. Shyamalan has provided in interviews and from trailers, the movie is going to cut out a lot of cultural implications relating to it’s Asian origins. This is done to support false claims of a “diverse” cast, which in no way resembles that of the series. This movie is going to butcher a perfectly great show because minorities are unfortunately not “bankable”.
Explain it to us, Mr. Shyamalan.
March 29, 2010 at 7:46 pm |
HELLO. Just wanted to point out just how much i was in love(and still am) with Avatar the Last Airbender when it came out as a cartoon.It was the highlight of my day. Once i heard it was going to be remade into a movie all i did for quite some time was rewatch every episode, imagining who would be playing who and things like that. I was completely dissapointed with the first cast and final cast for the movie. Not that i won’t appreciate them coming together to bring a great cartoon to life, but because they were just not what i expected. I’ve had this problem with other things that turned into movies Ex:Twilight. Loved the series. But the outcome of the 1st movie dissapointed me and has kind of driven me away from seeing the rest. I know tht ALA is probably going to have more than one movie, and im praying it won’t have the same effect as Twilight(for me personally atleast).I’m also hoping it won’t just become this craze that people see just to see but don’t have any background info on how this movie even came into existence. The problem i’m having with the casting is obviously the ethnicities of the characters. I’m not saying i was expecting everyone in the movie to be a minority of some type(even though i hoped this i knew it was impossible with us living in America). Heck i’m not even saying i expected everyone to be of Asian decent. You can’t hide or overlook the fact that darn near the whoooollle story has Asian cultural influences. You just can’t. So people who aren’t ignorant to this fact quickly see how this cartoon is about to be represented.White actors/actresses. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having Caucasian actors but there are some parts of the story that have been completely destroyed to me. The irony behind how people of the Fire Nation have such pale skin and light eyes and how the Water Tribe people have tanned skin. But now you’ve thrown in a dark skinned Fire nation Zuko and pale Watertribe Katara and Sokka.Is Zuko dark because the assumption that he’s suppose to be tan because he comes from a “fire” nation?
I mean i could go on and on and defend my opinions. I think it’s just so strange how America is this big melting pot but still we have the people who througout history have always represented the “US”A playing roles that are so obviously not apart of their heritage and background!An asian themed movie that won’t really have people OF THAT HERITAGE representing it. I mean it’s not like we see many asians on our tv/movie screens as main actors in the first place.The one chance we had to is completely out the door.
All I’m saying is I hope this movie exceeds my expectations. I don’t want it to make me eat my words but it should atleast live up to the original story. I think i’ll always be beside the ethnicity issue(don’t make it seem like there should be no problem),so I would like to know just how have you been handling the backlash for this upcoming movie?(no way you haven’t noticed yet) Do you plan on giving an explanation to us fans who just want to hear your thoughts and reasonings on how the casting came to be?(not really an apology but an explanation) Let’s say this movie just completely fails, do you think the early casting issues would be a problem? and if so would you still continue on with the movies how they are, make DRASTIC changes(ahem),or just end it with this first movie?And lastly….
WILL YOU ACTUALLY ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Please and Thank You from,
Iffy on seeing this movie.
July 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm |
Couldn’t have been said better
July 2, 2010 at 11:30 pm |
You guys need to give Shyamalan more credit. He’s a great director to choose Avatar, after all, no one else bothered to respect our favorite show like turning it into a movie!
I don’t like being mean…. I sincerely and honestly mean it, I would never mean to hurt someone’s feelings. But you guys are comparing the Avatar series and the movie far too seriously.
He’s not racist or anyone thing like that and you probably would know that
.
Seriously though; Who would you rather want to play Zuko or Katara or Sokka? Do you want Dev Patel to bleach his skin like Nikki Reed for Twilight or do you want Jesse McCartney whose tour was more important than training for the fighting scenes? Do you want Nicola and Jackson to get a tan? That’s horrible. It’s shows that you’d want a movie more identical to the cartoon then try to bring out a more majestic and spiritual side to Avatar like Shyamalan did.
Dev Patel is a great actor for this, have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Shyamalan didn’t want to force them to make changes about how they look for the movie. He casted good people to act this movie. I know they don’t look identical to they’re cartoon roles. Think openly, I believe it wasn’t something like Fire Nation = dark skin. It’s kind of like worldly nationalities you’d most likely see in Avatar world. You didn’t see a lot of Asian people in the cartoon, Brian and Mike mixed different looks which turned out great.
Shyamalan did not ruin Avatar, its legacy, or the movie. At least he made one after the series ended. IN CASE YOU HADN’T NOTICED, NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO. I’m grateful! I don’t mind your opinion or critics, I doesn’t bother me. But look in a mirror and think about what you’ve been saying about the movie. He didn’t ruin anything. Shyamalan shouldn’t be feeling awful about your complains.
Please forgive me if I seem mean or forcing. I just wanted you to be more understanding. It’s a movie, I know, you’re free to critize, but don’t be mean to the director.
August 23, 2010 at 9:51 pm
i totally agree with you, yeah people shouldn’t be comparing the movie and the series. if they want the people in the movie to look like the characters in the cartoon maybe they should suggest mr shyamalan to use wax statue. because there’s no one would look EXACTLY like the characters in the series.
April 23, 2010 at 12:31 am |
ok dont know if like 1000000000 people have asked this but the clothing that is used in the movie for characters, were the designs were based on the series actual clothing they wore in the time the movie was set in??
and is the bending in the movie still based on what it was like in the series like fire bending chow lin?
May 2, 2010 at 10:30 am |
I am asking Asians to deface any and all Avatar posters by spray painting RACISTS on them. Also, I heard they are makig a Genghis Kahn movie starring Mickey Rourke. Jews in Hollywood and the media have always been racist towards Asians. Unless Asian Americans take a stand and stomp these ——— out in their tracks, they’re going to keep on commiting to their divisive and racist policies against Asians. All it does is minimize Asian Americans who have been in this country for the last 150 years. These racist Hollywood —— don’t want Asian Americans to be Americanized. It’s always been about divide and conquer with them. There are enough starving actors looking for work. Stuff like this is racist and these idiots will keep on doing it unless Asian Americans come togther as a group and threaten them with either physical, fininacial or social consequences. This country has a problem with selective racism. Apparently, it’s only racist if something negative is done to blacks, Hispanics, gays or Jews. With Asians, they just don’t care.
June 22, 2010 at 2:09 pm |
How is being racist against whites when they are only demanding that the movie cast represent the likeness of the charecters of the TV series they are basing the whole movie on.And M. Night is either very stupid and or not happy with his race because it is clear that the only main character that is not white is Zuko,which is Indian and also happens to be fire nation which are the villains of the avatar series.
June 27, 2010 at 7:51 am |
I will not enjoy this movie. From the trailers i have seen i can barely recognise any of the characters!!!
Although the cartoon series is based on Asian culture and stuff, I personally just want the actors in the movie to LOOK and SOUND the same as the characters of the cartoon series, whether they’re white, black, Asian…whatever was in the cartoon! The movie should have kept as closely as possible to the elements and features of the cartoon series. They have only achieved this through the effects of the bending powers…not the actors!!
When I watched the cartoon series i felt like i was a part of the Aang and his friends journey, and i grew to know they’re PERSONALITIES, VOICES AND WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE, and so i felt like i knew them really well and it was really fun to watch. Now that i see the movie trailers and stuff…i don’t feel like i’m on that journey and their is no fond connection or feeling of familiarity. The movie just doesn’t cut it for me….the directors would have been better off to just make a totally different movie if they couldn’t get the original cast of the cartoon series. (As well as that the cast who voiced the avatar actually look pretty similar to the cartoon characters themselves. Maybe just a makeover here or there would better it.)
So therefore am not pleased. It has nothing to do with being racist or whatever…at the base of things…the movie should have just stuck with what was familiar in the cartoon and that’s it. And if they have tried…well it doesn’t look like it!!!
When I see a live action movie of the cartoon series i love, i expect it to be 98% similar if not exactly like the cartoon. People say the effects are more important sometimes…it’s true that they’re important BUT the characters are especially important since this movie is being created from a series.
June 27, 2010 at 3:18 pm |
You think you won’t enjoy it now? Just wait until you get through the first half a dozen “Ongs” and “Soak-as”.
July 1, 2010 at 12:35 pm |
I wholly agree.
I when people would pull the “YOU JUST WANT THEM ALL TO BE ASIAN.”
card I was like, “NO. I WANT THEM TO BE BELEIVABLE AND AUTHENTIC IN APPEARANCE AND ACTING.”
Of course white kids dont look like water tribe kids!
And Aang looks the part! I’m fine with him, but from the trailers his acting seems broodish!
June 29, 2010 at 8:54 pm |
From talking to my friends I think I have figured out what the problem is. Everyone has their favorite characters on the show, and to have their favorites f—– up really p—– them off. My favorites are Katara and Sokka. These whitebread Disney kids do NOT convey the spirit and essence of the tv characters. This is especially true of that girl that m knight picked to play Katara. She’s just not it. So much for picking the best actors for the job.
July 3, 2010 at 3:56 pm |
On the show avatar the last airbender it was like book. so what im trying to say is that are you going to crate more movies of the last airbender as chapters
July 12, 2010 at 9:44 am |
Love the movie and I’m waiting for the next sequels…. My favorite scene is when Aang practicing his waterbending skill at the lake side…. shirtless. Hopefully more shirtless scene of him Mr.NS
July 21, 2010 at 12:41 am |
yeah. i just hope they raise enough money for it though. the sequel is supposed to be “darker.”
August 9, 2010 at 5:17 am |
Me too….more shirtles pls….