History Trivia / TheLastAirbender

* BoxOfficeBomb: [[SubvertedTrope This was not necessarily a bomb]], having roughly broken even, but Paramount had much higher expectations as to what it should have made. The production budget was $150 million but a blockbuster usually needs to make a little over twice its production budget to be in the green. This total budget includes things like: marketing ($130 million in this case), residuals off the gross for the cast and crew , using partner companies to distribute in foreign markets, and interest to financiers. Box office: $131,772,187 (U.S. and Canada), $319,713,881 (globally). Had the production budget or marketing budget been a bit lower, it would probably have been considered a very modest success.

* One of ''The Last Airbender''’s [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzies]] was for Worst Picture of 2010. Another was the one-time “[[SpecialEffectsFailure Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D]].” It also "won" Worst Screenplay, Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor (Jackson Rathbone, who also won for his role in [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Twilight Eclipse]]). The film also received four additional nominations, tying it with Eclipse for the most razzie nominations of that year.

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** LiveActionAdaptation (bottom half)

* PromotedFanboy: Averted. Shyamalan first heard about the show when his daughter asked to be Katara for Halloween. After watching a few episodes, he decided to make an adaptation almost immediately.

** Seychelle Gabriel (Yue's actress) originally auditioned for the role of Katara, but subsequently lost out to Creator/NicolaPeltz.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The first draft of the movie included all twenty episodes of the series, adding up to a whopping seven hours. Instead, the movie was cut down to barely two hours, and then studio bosses had another half-hour of film cut from theatrical release because they wanted to convert it into 3-D as quickly as possible.
** Before things turned {{stillborn|Franchise}}, Shyamalan planned to counter the [[FanNickname “Racebending”]] complaints in the sequel by casting an Asian actress as Toph.
** Music/JesseMcCartney was the original actor cast as Zuko. However, he dropped out under amicable terms when asked to by the people at Paramount when they realized that all four of the main characters would be played by white actors. Creator/AvanJogia apparently auditioned for the movie, presumably as either Zuko or Sokka.
** Early promotional images showed Fire Lord Ozai with the long hair and goatee he had in the cartoon, but in the final movie, Ozai had short hair and was clean-shaven.
** Sokka's actor mentioned wanting to tan for the role. That didn't happen.
** According to Aaron Ehasz, the head writer of the original series, there were ideas for the series to have a Book Four. Shyamalan encouraged them to pursue creating a fourth season but [=DiMartino=] and Konietzko pushed for any Book Four plans to be cancelled and for the movie to made -- although both Konietzko ''and'' [=DiMartino=] [[FlipFlopOfGod insist that this isn't true.]]

* StarDerailingRole: Most of the performers with major roles in this film saw this happen to them, with Ringer only appearing in one other nuclear BoxOfficeBomb GenreKiller, ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'', the next year, and he hasn't appeared on the big screen since. However, Dev Patel (Zuko), Shaun Toub (Iroh), Cliff Curtis (Ozai) and Seychelle Gabriel (Yue), escaped this.[[note]]Gabriel, as a matter of fact, remained in the Nickelodeon ''Avatar'' franchise and took the major role of Asami Sato in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', which was a StarMakingRole for her.[[/note]] Bryan and Mike even note that getting to meet Seychelle was one of the few positives that came from this train wreck of a film. Likewise, Creator/NicolaPeltz managed to get later roles since her StageDad Nelson is a businessman and an investor.

** Jesse [=McCartney=] was originally cast as Zuko, since the producers wanted at least one recognizable name in the main cast. Paramount soon realized the problem they had created for themselves: they had casted all white actors for an adaptation of a series with ''no'' white characters. They couldn't get rid of Peltz (and Rathbone with her), so [=McCartney=] voluntarily stepped down and was replaced by Dev Patel, fresh from his star-making, Oscar-Winning turn in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire''. Unfortunately, Patel's casting actually ''exacerbated'' the problem, as it had the domino effect of necessitating the re-casting of the Fire Nation characters, the film's antagonists, with brown-skinned actors [[note]] for reference - Aasif Mandvi (Zhao) and Patel himself are both British-Indian, Shaun Toub (Iroh) is Persian/Iranian, Cliff Curtis (Ozai) is Māori, and Summer Bishil (Azula) is Indian-Mexican [[/note]] .

* WordOfGod: When describing why the Earthbenders [[LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard didn’t escape from the quarry]], Shyamalan responded that they were “too dispirited” to do so. [[FridgeLogic This answer somehow makes]] ''[[FridgeLogic less]]'' [[FridgeLogic sense when you think about it.]] This actually ''was'' the reason in the show, but it was caused by circumstances which were totally different. While dispirited, the Earthbenders in the show were on a ''coal derrick made out of metal'', located in the middle ''of the ocean,'' rather than the landbound quarry in the film.

** According to Aaron Ehasz, the head writer of the original series, there were ideas for the series to have a Book Four. Shyamalan encouraged them to pursue creating a fourth season but [=DiMartino=] and Konietzko pushed for any Book Four plans to be cancelled and for the movie to made.

** Shyamalan, a fan of the series, wrote a seven-hour treatment spanning all twenty first season episodes, one reason why it gained ''Avatar'' creators Michael Dante [=DiMartino=] and Bryan Konietzko's approval. Unfortunately, Paramount was not nearly as familiar with or fond of the series, and they were in charge of some of the film's more poorly-received aspects, starting with the casting. Creator/NicolaPeltz was cast as Katara largely because [[{{Nepotism}} she's the daughter of businessman Nelson Peltz, who the producers owed a favor]]; her audition tape was described as [[DullSurprise "subpar at best"]]. A Caucasian Katara forced the casting of a Caucasian Sokka, and Jackson Rathbone was at least a fan of the series who could capture the character's humour; however, the producers cut the intentional jokes from the script in the interest of time, leaving the dull characterization of Sokka that landed in the finished product. Noah Ringer as Aang had talent but lacked experience, and felt particularly lost in talking to air for scenes that would be green-screened later.
** Jesse [=McCartney=] was originally cast as Zuko, since the producers wanted at least one recognizable name in the main cast. What Paramount soon realized, however, was that the cast was now all-white; they couldn't get rid of Peltz (and Rathbone with her), so [=McCartney=] voluntarily stepped down and was replaced by Dev Patel, fresh from his star-making, Oscar-Winning turn in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire''. Unfortunately, Patel's casting actually ''exacerbated'' the problem, as it had the unfortunate side effect of necessitating the re-casting of the Fire Nation characters, the film's antagonists, with brown-skinned actors [[note]] for reference - Aasif Mandvi (Zhao) and Patel himself are both British-Indian, Shaun Toub (Iroh) is Persian/Iranian, Cliff Curtis (Ozai) is Māori, and Summer Bishil (Azula) is Indian-Mexican [[/note]] .

** Iroh in the series [[Practically Different Generations is around 20 years older than his brother Ozai]], whereas Shaun Toub is only five years old than Cliff Curtis. It's unclear if this is meant to be an in-universe AgeLift.

** Jesse [=McCartney=] was originally cast as Zuko, since the producers wanted at least one recognizable name in the main cast. What Paramount soon realized, however, was that the cast was now all-white; they couldn't get rid of Peltz (and Rathbone with her), so [=McCartney=] voluntarily stepped down and was replaced by Dev Patel, fresh from his star-making, Oscar-Winning turn in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire''. Unfortunately, Patel's casting exactly ''exacerbated'' the problem, as it had the unfortunate side effect of necessitating the re-casting of the Fire Nation characters, the film's antagonists, with brown-skinned actors [[note]] for reference - Aasif Mandvi (Zhao) and Patel himself are both British-Indian, Shaun Toub (Iroh) is Persian/Iranian, Cliff Curtis (Ozai) is Māori, and Summer Bishil (Azula) is Indian-Mexican [[/note]] .

* DawsonCasting: Jackson Rathbone (24) as Sokka (15–16). The actress who was intended to play Suki, Jessica Andres, was the same age. The other characters are played by actors of a closer age. Rathbone apparently had a good screen test with Peltz and very much looked like her ''older'' brother. He looks awkward playing opposite Dev Patel, who is six years ''younger'' despite playing a character one year his senior.

** Shyamalan, a fan of the series, wrote a seven-hour treatment spanning all twenty first season episodes, one reason why it gained ''Avatar'' creators Michael Dante [=DiMartino=] and Bryan Konietzko's approval. Unfortunately, Paramount was not nearly as familiar with or fond of the series, and they were in charge of some of the film's more poorly-received aspects, starting with the casting. Creator/NicolaPeltz was cast as Katara largely because [[{{Nepotism}} she's the daughter of businessman Nelson Peltz, who the producers owed a favor]]; her audition tape was described as [[DullSurprise "subpar at best"]]. A Caucasian Katara forced the casting of a Caucasian Sokka, and Jackson Rathbone was at least a fan of the series who could capture the character's humour; however, the producers cut the intentional jokes from the script in the interest of time, leaving the dull characterization of Sokka that landed in the finished product. Noah Ringer as Aang had talent but lacked experience, and felt particularly lost in talking to air for scenes that would be greenscreened later.
** Jesse [=McCartney=] was originally cast as Zuko, but Paramount realized that their primary cast was all-white; they couldn't get rid of Peltz (and Rathbone with her), so [=McCartney=] voluntarily stepped down and was replaced by Dev Patel, fresh from his star-making turn in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'', which had the unfortunate side effect of necessitating the re-casting of the Fire Nation characters, the film's antagonists, with South Asian actors.

* GenreKiller: The 11th hour 3-D conversion and the special Razzie it won put a serious dent in the viability of 3-D movies that has not gone away.

** [[Music/JesseMcCartney Jesse McCartney]] was the original actor cast as Zuko. However, he dropped out under amicable terms when asked to by the people at Paramount when they realized that all four of the main characters would be played by white actors. Creator/AvanJogia apparently auditioned for the movie, presumably as either Zuko or Sokka.

** Seychelle Gabriel (Yue's actress) originally auditioned for the role of Katara, but subsequently lost out to Creator/NicolaPeltz.

** [[Music/JesseMcCartney Jesse McCartney]] was originally going to play Zuko, but had to drop out due to his tour dates. This probably would have resulted in the Fire Nation citizens being played by white people as well. Creator/AvanJogia apparently auditioned for the movie, presumably as either Zuko or Sokka.

* AbilityOverAppearance: The filmmakers {{invoked|trope}} this against criticism of the RaceLift of various characters. Many years later, accusations came to light that Creator/NicolaPeltz was cast as a favor to her billionaire father, and Jackson Rathbone was subsequently hired to match her appearance. If true, this would probably count as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], particularly with how harshly both actors' performances were criticised.

* AbilityOverAppearance: The filmmakers {{invoked|trope}} this against criticism of the RaceLift of various characters. Many years later, accusations came to light that Nicola Peltz was cast as a favor to her billionaire father, and Jackson Rathbone was subsequently hired to match her appearance. If true, this would probably count as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], particularly with how harshly both actors' performances were criticised.

* AbilityOverAppearance: The filmmakers {{invoked|trope}} this against criticism of the RaceLift of various characters. Many years later, accusations came to light that Nicola Peltz was cast as a favor to her billionaire father, and Jackson Rathbone was subsequently hired to match her appearance.

* CreatorBacklash: Creator/DevPatel admitted that he regretted participating in the film, stating that his ideas were never heard by anyone, and that the experience made him decide not to participate in major studio films.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Claimed by the director. M. Night Shyamalan has claimed on several occasions that the film was better received in Europe, and has gone on to claim that American critics "don't get" his European sensibilites. There is, however, very little evidence that this is true, and Shyamalan has only offered personal anecdotes to support the claims that Europeans like the movie better.

* BoxOfficeBomb: This was not necessarily a bomb, having roughly broken even, but Paramount had much higher expectations as to what it should have made. The production budget was $150 million but a blockbuster usually needs to make a little over twice its production budget to be in the green. This total budget includes things like: marketing ($130 million in this case), residuals off the gross for the cast and crew , using partner companies to distribute in foreign markets, and interest to financiers. Box office: $131,772,187 (U.S. and Canada), $319,713,881 (globally). Had the production budget or marketing budget been a bit lower, it would probably have been considered a very modest success.

%% * CreatorBacklash: Creator/DevPatel ended up regretting taking part in this movie.