Dev Patel Joins Shyamalan's 'The Last Airbender'
Maybe he is 2008's breakthrough actor...
I was actually considering writing up a piece for today asking why people are calling Dev Patel a "breakthrough actor" based solely on his performance in Slumdog Millionaire. Then Variety has to go and squash that story before I ever start it as they report Patel has joined M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films.
Patel will be joining Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jessica Jade Andres as production on the film begins in mid-March in Greenland. Patel replaces Jesse McCartney who apparently is busy with a music career and doesn't have time for movies.
"Jesse had tour dates that conflicted with a boot camp I always hold on my films, and where the actors here have to train for martial arts," Shyamalan said. Patel was "already one of the guys I was interested in. Then I saw Slumdog Millionaire, and the kid just grew in my eyes," he said.
The film is based on the Nick TV series and 12-year-old Ringer will play Aang, the film's lead, who is the last of a race of people who can manipulate the elements of air. Patel will play Zuko, a member of the Fire Nation. Peltz plays the Water Tribe rep Katara, while Andres is the Earth Kingdom's representative, Suki.
Shyamalan is hoping to turn the film into a trilogy, but will have to wait to see how the first film turns out as it is set to hit theaters on July 2, 2010.
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thankfully he replaced the weakest link
this is ridiculous…..cant they get someone better…i have lost total interest in the movie with this….
Thank God that Jesse Mccartney was replaced…i doubt his acting is any better than his music which is, for lack of better word, a joke! I just hope Shymalan can turn it around after The Happening which was weak! I love the guy and know he can do a good job on this film!
He will play Zuko? Come on, he looks like Sokka, Katara´s brother.
@atl roller`: Um, no. Jesse dropping out of this is going to hurt the movie. Throwing some random ugly kid from a stupid movie as a replacement (and as an important character) could be troublesome.
Maybe I should be worrying about how bad this will be instead of how good.
Oh well, he'll never make movie better than "Lady In The Water."
@Seiko:
….yeah….
Because casting should totally be based on popularity with pre-teen girls, not talent, right?
No. I love Slumdog Millionaire and think Dev Patel's performance is the biggest contributor to its wildly positive reception. Good move, Shyamalan.
i believe it's time we stop caring about this film til it comes out since all we are going to do is complain.
yeah i agree with 'ormac' he looks more like sokka
thoagh who is noah ringer?
has it been confirmed who Dev will be playing, i saw the comment about him playing zuko, thats ridiculous, but has there been full fledged/announced confirmation?