TheLastAirbender Tagged Articles at Cinematical
How to Avoid Premature Trailer Fatigue?
Filed under: Fandom », Movie Marketing »
If it's not trailers, it's teasers; if it's not teasers; it's images. By the time a blockbuster finally arrives, if you haven't heard so much about it that you want to scream -- from overload or delight -- the studio's marketing team hasn't done their job. But how early is too early to begin promoting a movie?
Pointing to this week's release of a teaser trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, more than a year in advance of its planned theatrical roll-out in July 2010, The Big Money wonders if that's a good strategy: "How do you keep interest high then over the long autumn, winter, and spring? By producing trailer after trailer? Hollywood will watch this strategy closely to see at what point trailer fatigue sets in or whether it needs to build interest even earlier in its expensive summer blockbusters." Of course, as io9 observed, this isn't a new strategy; The Incredibles got teased 18 months in advance and Star Trek 16 months early (due in part to a release delay). Watchmen tried a different strategy that seemed to work, releasing behind the scenes clips (or "video journals") each month in the year leading up to its theatrical debut.
How do you pique interest and build awareness without potential viewers feeling like the movie's being jammed down their throats? Is it better to wait until closer to the release date? Are too many trailers and other advance promotional devices causing you to suffer from "trailer fatigue"? How early do you want to start seeing teasers and trailers?
Trailer Park: Spreading, Bending and Breaking
Filed under: Trailer Trash »
The Box
Richard Kelly didn't exactly set the world on fire with Southland Tales, but his previous film Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies of all time and I'm hoping this new film is more along those lines. Based on a short story by Richard Matheson, The Box stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple whose financial problems can be cleared up quite simply. If they press the button on a mysterious box then they will be given a million dollars but someone they don't know will die. Sounds like a classic Twilight Zone moral dilemma, and Matheson did pen a few episodes of the series. We can find out what's in the box on October 30.
Ponyo
I really like the look of this animated feature since it doesn't look like Disney's typical work (they're releasing it here in the States) and it looks kind of atypical for Japanese anime as well. Hayao Miyazaki, the man behind Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro directs. I'd be more interested if the trailer gave a better idea of what the movie is about -- but Miyazaki's resume speaks for itself. This one gets a limited release on August 14.
The First Teaser for M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Last Airbender'
Filed under: Action », Animation », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Fandom », Family Films », Movie Marketing », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », Trailers and Clips »
But whether you're a newbie or a longtime fan, this teaser trailer for Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (now officially dropping the Avatar preface) doesn't reveal a heck of a lot. The staff wielding is pretty kickass, effects are good, the music makes me want a noodle bowl something fierce, and the voiceover makes me feel like a kid listening to Don LaFontaine. The shot at the end of unknown baddies coming to blast our chosen one to bits is pretty awesome, if a bit evovative of Troy. But if I hadn't been told by friends that this is a series worth watching, I would brush the trailer off as a cheesy ripoff of every Asian movie I'd ever seen, and rap its knuckles for its unrepentant quoting of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. You never, ever want to make a "chosen line" quote in your trailer in a post Phantom Menace world.
However, that's my uneducated take. Let's hear yours, Airbender fans. The trailer is below the jump, and the movie hits theaters on July 2, 2010.
First Photos From 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'
Filed under: Action », Animation », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Paramount », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Family Films », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Images »
So, I will have to rely on you Airbender fans to give your take on these first photos from USA Today (apparently it's back to using the Avatar moniker despite James Cameron), and eagerly await your take on the controversy is raging around the film. Many fans are offended that M. Night Shyamalan didn't cast Japanese actors. Others feel that's an unneccessary sticking point as the world the characters inhabit is a fantasy one based on Asian culture, so that Shyamalan should be able to cast freely. Dev Patel just sits awkwardly in the middle of the debate -- people are simultaneously annoyed he's not Japanese and suspicious that the one non-white actor is cast in a villainous role.
Blissfully unaware of his unsuitability is newcomer Noah Ringer, who plays Aang. Apparently, he's always gone by the nickname "Avatar" due to his resemblance to the cartoon character (he always sports a shaved head) and his lethal martial arts skills. He won the part after sending a home made DVD of himself ... talk about an easy day for the casting director.
Give your thoughts, Airbender fans. And I promise, I'll start watching the series this weekend ... in the meantime, can you tell me what's up with Aang's hand?
Shyamalan's 'Last Airbender' Kicks Off Filming in PA
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Family Films », Newsstand »
If you thought M. Night Shyamalan's career was over after The Happening, you were wrong. And, uh, not very bright. But I do have to admit that I was among those who thought that his planned adaptation of the Nickelodeon "American anime" Avatar: The Last Airbender would never actually come together: it just seemed too bizarre a combination of filmmaker and material, and James Cameron already had an Avatar in the pipeline. But the movie, written by Shyamalan and renamed The Last Airbender to steer clear of this winter's 3D behemoth, has begun filming in rural Pennsylvania, for a July 2010 release.This Reading Eagle article has quite a few details on the project, including some set photos that are too boring for me to transplant here. One of its insights is a worrisome explanation for what attracted Shyamalan to the project:
"'The film is very spiritual,' said [Shyamalan's long-time producer Jose Rodriguez]. 'The storytelling is more layered (than on the series). There's a Shakespearean quality about it: a ruthless king destroying a peaceful world. I think it's fair to say it has an almost operatic power.'"
Interview: M. Night Shyamalan
Filed under: Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », New Releases », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Steven Spielberg », Interviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
He goes by "Night," but it's hard to dispute his sunny disposition. Just a few minutes into a conversation with M. Night Shyamalan in a New York City hotel room yesterday, it was obvious to me that the director has managed to occupy such a unique niche in the Hollywood landscape because he's immediately likable. Of course, a little movie released in 1999 called The Sixth Sense didn't hurt, either.
After landing two Oscar nominations and international acclaim for his masterful ghost story, Shyamalan continued to market himself as a brand. Since then, the results have been mixed. Signs was an indisputable hit. Unbreakable has its supporters. Lady in the Water? Not so much. But that failure hasn't prevented the filmmaker from dealing with audacious material: His latest movie, The Happening, finds a married couple (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) thrust into a world where people inexplicably become suicidal after getting struck by an ominous, unseen toxin. Forces of evil usually remain unseen in Shyamalan's films, and The Happening is no exception to that rule. I spoke to the 37-year-old Philadelphia resident about the personal philosophies guiding his career choices, the polarized reactions to his work, and what the future will bring.
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