M. Night Shyamalan has a bizarre and unexpected reason for why “Last Airbender” flopped in theaters.
Critics hated the ‘The Last Airbender’ movie and when it premeired in the box office it was a major let down.
In a recent interview with IGN, however, it seems that Shyamalan has his own thoughts on why his film was a box office flop and also left supporters of the TV series upset.
When asked if he was aware of the many, issues with the movie, Shyamalan blames all of the problems on fans expecting the wrong thing. Here’s how he defended his film:
You could make it one of two ways: You could make it for that same audience, which is what I did — for nine and 10-year-olds — or you could do the Transformers version and have Megan Fox.
Ultimately, Shyamalan thinks people didn’t like ‘The Last Airbender’ because it was a kid’s movie and not an adult blockbuster.It wasn’t the mispronunciation of the key characters’ name, the whitewashing of a diverse cast, poor visual effects.
‘The Last Airbender’ received extremely negative reviews by critics. Many reviewers cited inconsistencies within the plot and between the screenplay and the source material, as well as the acting, writing and casting; however, some praised James Newton Howard’s soundtrack and the acting from Dev Patel, Aasif Mandvi and Shaun Toub. The film swept the Golden Raspberry Awards in 2010, with five “wins” including Worst Picture and has been considered to be one of the worst films ever made.
Despite negative reviews, The Last Airbender opened in second place at the box office behind The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Produced on a $150 million budget, the film grossed $131 million domestically and $319 million worldwide. It is currently the third highest grossing Nickelodeon film, behind 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 2011’s The Adventures of Tintin.
What do you think The Last Airbender should have done differently?