Shamalamadingdong to direct live-action Avatar:The Last Airbender?

[Queasy]

Will he stray from the "twist"?

M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount are planning their own "Avatar" project, based on the popular Nickelodeon kids TV series.

The filmmaker has inked a three-picture deal with Par's MTV Films and Nick Movies to adapt animated kiddie skein "Avatar: The Last Airbender" for the bigscreen. He will write, direct and produce the potential kids franchise.

Film version will be live-action.

Nick TV's "Avatar," which is set in an Asian-influenced fantasy world permeated by martial arts and magic, follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.

Created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, "Avatar" debuted on the Nicktoons lineup in February 2005. Aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds, show has nabbed strong ratings, including outside its intended demo. It is among the top 10 animated series on all of TV among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14.

Paramount confirmed the pact with Shyamalan just hours after Fox Filmed Entertainment announced it is greenlighting James Cameron's "Avatar," the director's first feature since "Titanic."

Although they may have the same name, the two projects have nothing to do with each other in terms of storylines. Cameron's is a sci-fi action-adventure that he's been working on for 11 years.

Par said it has registered the name of its project with the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

A Fox rep said, "We own the movie title 'Avatar.' There won't be another film called 'Avatar' coming from anyplace."

MTV Films and Nick Movies prexy Scott Aversano, who reports to Paramount prexy Gail Berman, was instrumental in striking the pact with Shyamalan.

?Avatar? marks the first time Shyamalan has taken on a project that didn?t originate from his own source material. He is also shopping other projects, so ?Avatar? may not be the first into production.

Shyamalan took "Lady in the Water" to Warner Bros. after a bitter break with Disney, which had passed on the pic. He dissed some at the Mouse House in a book that was published just as Warners opened "Lady," which fell flat at the summer box office.

 

[yllus]

*scratches head* Shamalamadingdong? Not really necessary, is it?

 

[uhohs]

Film version will be live-action.

lolololol

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: yllus
*scratches head* Shamalamadingdong? Not really necessary, is it?

I was always screwing up spelling his name and after his last two (edit: three) movies (and the antics surrounding them), it feels somewhat appropriate.

 

[Q]

Avatar is actually a really, really well done cartoon, I enjoy it, and no, I'm not an anime nerd (no offense)

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: yllus
*scratches head* Shamalamadingdong? Not really necessary, is it?

I was always screwing up spelling his name and after his last two movies (and the antics surrounding them), it feels somewhat appropriate.

I love you, OP! I always call 'em shamalamadingdong and appreciate those who butcher his name as well.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Quintox
Avatar is actually a really, really well done cartoon, I enjoy it, and no, I'm not an anime nerd (no offense)

Yeah, my wife's 8-year old cousin came over to visit and asked if she could watch it. With a 4-year old and a 1-year old, our TV stays on the Disney channels more often than not. I was surprised at how good a cartoon Avatar is.

This is a HUGE break for Shyamalan (god I hate trying to spell his name) though. His dark, moody, crawling...nay...inching build-up won't work for something like Avatar.

 

[randay]

thats a good way to kill off a franchise. i will never watch a movie of his again unless it scores 9+ on imdb or rt or something.

 

[AbAbber2k]

I refuse to watch Lady in the Water. I'm so sick of Shamalamadingding's D) movies and idiotic twists (Signs and the Village in particular). I'm with randay in that this movie would have to get a STELLAR rating for me to even consider seeing.

 

[EKKC]

there was no twist in LITW. it was a crappy movie. that's all. i wasted all my friend's time during christmas party telling them all his movies have a twist. what the hell is the twist? the damn eagle? damn that was a bad movie. they made me drink this nasty cocktail they came up with after i wasted 2 hours of all of their lives

 

[RaiderJ]

I've not seen any of his movies after the one where aliens get killed by tap water.

 

[KLin]

lol shamalamadingdong :laugh:

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
I refuse to watch Lady in the Water. I'm so sick of Shamalamadingding's D) movies and idiotic twists (Signs and the Village in particular). I'm with randay in that this movie would have to get a STELLAR rating for me to even consider seeing.

The only redeeming factor of the movie is the scathing reviews it garnered.

You won't see anything else like it this summer, and you'll be really glad about that.

Paul Giamatti is superb ... and his performance single-handedly rescues Lady in the Water from one star ignominy. Frankly, you'll marvel at his ability to keep a straight face as he delivers Shyamalan's pretentious dialogue.

A flaky ego trip disguised as a fairy tale.

Hollywood cannot pollute the ozone with anything more idiotic, contrived, amateurish or sub-mental than Lady in the Water.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
I refuse to watch Lady in the Water. I'm so sick of Shamalamadingding's D) movies and idiotic twists (Signs and the Village in particular). I'm with randay in that this movie would have to get a STELLAR rating for me to even consider seeing.

I don't consider Signs to have a twist like The Sixth Sense or The Village. It's different.

 

[Perknose]

He had one good film in him. Too bad it has already been made.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: yllus
*scratches head* Shamalamadingdong? Not really necessary, is it?

I was always screwing up spelling his name and after his last two movies (and the antics surrounding them), it feels somewhat appropriate.

I love you, OP! I always call 'em shamalamadingdong and appreciate those who butcher his name as well.

I, too, love the OP for calling him the exact same thing I do

 

[mrzed]

Another vote for the OP's naming scheme. If it was 6 years ago, I would have thought it another example of xenophobic americans not being able to deal with foreign names. After dingdong has stunk up the cinema with his overwrought, overhyped and pretentious drivel for the last few releases, I think it entirely appropriate.

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: randay
thats a good way to kill off a franchise. i will never watch a movie of his again unless it scores 9+ on imdb or rt or something.

That's why I haven't seen Lady in the Water. I haven't liked any of his movies except for the first one. I finally said "enough".

 

[ballmode]

his movies suck

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: ballmode
his movies suck donkey balls

fixed

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
I've not seen any of his movies after the one where aliens get killed by tap water.

You mean the super smart aliens that can travel through space and jump on buildings but can't open doors or recognize the place they're attacking is 2/3 filled with a substance that is deadly to them? I can't imagine why that would turn you off.