New Last Airbender Movie May Repeat Avatar's Name Problem
A new animated Avatar: The Last Airbender film is on its way, but the film may face a similar issue to 2010's The Last Airbender. The announcement comes as one of several from the newly formed Avatar Studios, a division of Nickelodeon.
Avatar Studios seems to be at work on several projects, but the animated film is chief among them. The studio remains in pre-production on its live-action Netflix series, but the original series' co-creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are no longer involved with the project. DiMartino and Konietzko will now serve as co-chief creative officers for Avatar Studios, and will be closely involved with the upcoming theatrical film. The feature-length film is exciting news for fans of the series who have longed for a proper film adaptation ever since M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender bombed in 2010. Shyamalan had plans for a sequel, but the backlash to his first film has made that all but impossible.
This new attempt at an Avatar: The Last Airbender film sounds promising, but it may repeat a problem that Shyamalan dealt with as well. With the film expected to arrive in the next few years, it is likely to overlap with James Cameron's Avatar sequels in some capacity. Cameron's first Avatar film debuted in 2009, and its popularity forced Shyamalan and Paramount Pictures to call their film The Last Airbender. The Avatar franchise is likely to reenter the zeitgeist over the next few years, which may jeopardize Avatar Studios' film all over again.
The animated film's focus remains a mystery, although it may be better off leaving Aang's story behind. The creative team behind the project certainly suggests promise, as well as a faithful commitment to the source material. Shyamalan's film was maligned for a number of reasons, but diehard fans of the series were particularly frustrated with its divergence from the original's lore, perhaps most egregiously represented by its whitewashed cast. Of course, there is reason to believe that Shyamalan is not chiefly responsible for The Last Airbender's failures. The film was arguably destined for failure due to some poor marketing and pre-production decisions, which largely centered around the film's name.
In 2010, a title like Avatar almost certainly referred to James Cameron's sci-fi epic. Today, the title's prospects are a bit more dubious. Avatar Studio's upcoming animated film could absolutely get away with embracing its roots, but if its release coincides with Avatar 2 or Avatar 3, the studio may be forced into the very same spot they were in over a decade ago. Ultimately, fans just want more high-quality stories set in the Avatarverse, but the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise may remain forever intertwined with Cameron's saga of the same name.