‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’: Dev Patel Apologizes for M. Night Shyamalan Movie
Avatar: The Last Airbender fans have had a lot to be happy about this summer. The hit Nickelodeon show ran from 2005-2008, and Netflix recently picked it up for streaming. What’s more, the show managed to break one of Netflix’s longest-held records in July, proving that age doesn’t matter. Now, with a live-action remake of the entire series in the works, Dev Patel is apologizing for M. Night Shyamalan’s widely-panned attempt at a live-action film.
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ tops Netflix record
Netflix hit jackpot when they decided to option Avatar: The Last Airbender for streaming on their platform. The show has a dedicated following, and easily picks up new fans with its whimsical sense of adventure and mature handling of difficult topics.
In a stunning tour de force, Avatar: The Last Airbender broke one of Netflix’s records. As of July 15, 2020, the Nickelodeon show sat on the top 10 list for 58 days. That’s one day longer than the previous champion, Ozark.
Interestingly, Avatar is only one of two non-Netflix shows to sit in the top ten performers for an extended period of time. The other one is Money Heist. It’s surprising to some that a show over ten years old was able to accomplish this feat, but it only speaks to the quality of the show.
Dev Patel apologizes for M. Night Shyamalan’s movie
While the Nickelodeon show may be a marvel, M. Night Shyamalan’s attempt at adapting the series to film was not a success. The film was widely panned by critics for its writing, acting, and poorly executed special effects. What’s more, the movie whitewashed many of the characters who are people of color in the original show.
In a clip that’s resurfacing recently, Dev Patel was spotted calling out the film for its poor quality during a fan event. While signing autographs during the premiere of his film, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Patel signed a fan’s Avatar merch.
While signing the merchandise, Patel can be heard telling the fan, “I’m sorry about this film. It was a little bit sh*t wasn’t it?”
Twitter loved the interaction. One user commented, “Good, he did the right thing to apologize to the fans and threw this travesty movie a well-deserved shade.”
“He was actually one of the best parts of the whole film tbh. He played a great Zuko, it’s just a shame that the whole film didn’t make sense and they just f*cked everything up,” added another user.
Fans speculate on ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ remake
Now, with another attempt at a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender on the way, fans are a little bit nervous. However, there is some relief in the fact that the new version is being made by the show’s original creators.
Some fans have suggested that we might see aged-up versions of the Avatar characters in the live-action remake, both as a result of filming constraints and Hollywood standards. One Redditor wrote, “I bet they’re going to age them up, so they can market to the teenage population but also appeal to nostalgic millennials. Plus Hollywood hires mid-late twenty-year-olds/thirty-year-olds to play teenagers all the time so it’s possible.”
“They do for high school roles, but they usually don’t hire adults for kids that are middle school-aged. But yeah I can definitely see them aging them up just because of the difficulty in working with child actors and their constraints on the amount of time they can work,” added another user.
