The Last Airbender (2010)

The Last Airbender is a 2010 American action adventure fantasy film based on the first season of the animated television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008). Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the film stars Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, and Cliff Curtis. The plot follows Aang, a young Avatar who must master all four elements of air, water, fire, and earth and restore balance to the world while stopping the Fire Nation from conquering the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.

Development for the film began in January 2007, with casting and pre-production taking place in 2008. Principal photography began in March 2009 and ended in September, with two weeks' shooting in Greenland, and the rest of the film being shot in various locations in Pennsylvania, United States. Post-production began in August and took several months due to the extensive visual effects. The name Avatar was dropped from the title to avoid confusion with James Cameron's 2009 film, Avatar.

The Last Airbender premiered at the Alice Tully Hall in New York City on June 30, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States the following day by Paramount Pictures. The film was panned by critics, and is considered to be one of the worst films of all time. It grossed $320 million on a $150 million budget, and was considered to be a box-office disappointment. The Last Airbender was originally envisioned as a trilogy, each reflecting the show's three seasons, but its negative reception and poor financial performance led to Nickelodeon cancelling the plans. A second live-action attempt in the form of a direct-to-streaming television series produced by Netflix, would later be released in 2024.