The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender is a 2010 American action-adventure fantasy film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, produced by Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Blinding Edge Pictures, and the Kennedy/Marshall Company, and distributed by Paramount. 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 playing Prince Zuko, Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone as Katara and Sokka. The film tells the story of Aang, a young Avatar who must master all four elements of air, water, fire and earth and restore balance to the world while stopping the Fire Nation from conquering the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom. Development for the film began in January 2007, and the casting and pre-production process happened during 2008. Filming began on March 2009 and ended on September 2009, with a preliminary schedule held in Greenland for two weeks, and the rest of the film was shot in major locations across Pennsylvania, United States. Post-production began in August and took several months due to extensive visual effects. The name Avatar was dropped from the title to avoid confusion with James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar. The Last Airbender premiered in New York City on June 30, 2010, and was theatrically released in United States the following day. The film was largely panned by both critics and fans, with several publications calling it one of the worst films of all time. Produced on a $150 million budget, the film grossed $319.7 million worldwide. The Last Airbender was originally envisioned as the first of a trilogy of films based on the three seasons of the series, but due to its disappointing box office performance and negative reviews, the planned trilogy was ultimately scrapped. Plot A century has passed since the Fire Nation declared war on the other three nations of air, water, and earth in its attempt to conquer the world. Sokka and his younger sister Katara, who live in the Southern Water Tribe, discover an unusual iceberg. Breaking into the iceberg releases a beam of light and reveals a 12-year-old boy named Aang and his pet flying bison Appa.