ATLA: Live Action Movie

Over the course of the conversation, many aspects of the film were brought up. The amount of effects shots, the music, the inclusion/exclusion of characters, the casting/race issue, the plans for movies 2 and 3, as well as which characters have been moved where. Here's a little tease:

Night said he got the idea of how waterbending should look from watching astronauts in space.

He mentioned how he didn't like the term sequels when talking about these movies; as sequels often mean continuing the story just to make more money. "The first movie is just the beginning of the story."
They created their own written language for this movie that is inspired by other eastern and Asian languages. This is not our world, but it was inspired by aspects of it.

There were no preferences during casting. The goal was for everybody to be able to see themselves in a character.

Night has already written 2 drafts of the script for the second movie.


The movies will get bigger and more location oriented with each film.

While each writer was only able to ask one question on film due to time, I was able to squeeze in three. M. Night spoke on the film with what can only be described as child-like enthusiasm, and would often deviate into other topics related to a question. After the discussion he was even kind enough to sign our choice of either an Aang or Zuko theatrical one-sheet. While we cannot go into too much detail until the full videotapped discussion is released, here are some juicy tidbits to whet your appetite.

-The world of The Last Airbender is inspired by Asian culture, much the same way The Lord of the Rings is inspired by Midieval Europe. The story of this film does not take place in our world, hence the absense of East Asian caligraphy that was prevalent in the animated series.
-M. Night was just as mystified by the lack of resolution in the Zuko’s Mother story arc in Book 3, and declared he will make it a priority to do so in the films.
Sillier moments and characters from the show, such as the Cabbage Man, will not be a part of the film.
-He met with Mike & Bryan during the production of Book 3 to be sure that they had no plans to extend the story into a possible Book 4, before he moved forward with the production of The Last Airbender. Night wanted to be sure it would end in Book 3.
-Casting the lead characters was done without bias. Any actor of any race had a shot at the roles. Once the lead characters were cast, the people of their respective nations were cast as the same or similar race.
-Toph will be Asian in the sequel.
The full video discussion will be available in a few days time. Keep an eye out for it!

Sweetalker wrote:Sorry, this just all sounds like more "BANG! ZOOM! SPARKLE SPARKLE! I took out the story but I'm adding lots of SPECIALEFFECTSOMGLOOKIELOOKLOOK!"

I'm not impressed. I think we'll all be in amazement at first watching, because we're already fans of the Avatar world, and it'll be friggin awesome to see it "live" onscreen. But once that "newness" wears off, we're going to be drowning our sorrows about how he fucked it all up.

Mark my words. MARK 'EM!

Aaiero wrote:2) THEY KILLED TOPH! She is no longer Aang's earthbending teacher. In fact, she's ceased to exsist! Instead, they's going to be some earthbeing kid (name unknown) who will have the background and traits of Haru but take on the role of Toph. He will suffer an extreme injury in movie two resulting in blindness, which then forces him to learn to see with the earth. GAH!
*bangs head on desk*

I cried, I really did.
M. Night was doing so well. People were starting to turn for the better.
Then he screws up like this, and we're back to square one.

toph isnt dropped, it was an april fools joke

Sweetalker wrote:We're all still going to the Lexington midnight showing, yes? ... YES??