After a record-breaking final week on Nickelodeon, which attracted some 19 million viewers, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender now have to endure the long wait until July 2010, when the first of a trilogy of Avatar movies is slated to come out.  They have something to expect, however, as it will be directed by M. Night Syamalan, the force behind The Sixth Sense.

“He's very respectful of the material we have created,” says creator Mike DiMartino of Shyamalan.  “We are really excited to see the Avatar world come to life in a live-action movie.  Personally, I can't wait to see a realistic Appa flying through the sky.”

The Appa, of course, is the six-legged flying furry creature that transports Aang and his friends on their adventures.  Syamalan is to write, direct, and produce the three movies, with the first one called The Last Airbender to be shot in Philadelphia and Greenland.

“Once he saw the first few episodes he was hooked and thought it would make a great live-action movie.  Then lots of secret, behind-the-scenes Hollywood stuff happened that made the movie a reality,” DiMartino adds.

He also says that fans of Avatar can expect a “very faithful adaptation of Book 1: Water.”  Basically, Avatar takes place in a world divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.  The Fire Nation is the violent and aggressive state pushing for world domination.

Heavily influence by Eastern philosophies, Avatar has similarly been praised for its well-developed story-telling, which DiMartino admits he took pains to achieve.

“As Bryan (Konietzko, the other creator) and I began developing the show, we knew we had something special in our hands, but we never imagined how devoted the fans would be.  They really care about what happens to the characters.  And the fact that we have fans all over the world is even more special,” says DiMartino.


-Glenn L. Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Star Online
(Image Courtesy of The Star Online)