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Variety.com has published a short article on the upcoming live action Avatar movies. Specifically, the release date and the film title has been released. Apparently Nick is hoping to create a summer blockbuster, as Variety is reporting here that the first film is due for theatrical release on July 2nd, 2010.

The title of this first film will be "The Last Airbender." The word "Avatar" was dropped from the title as a way to escape the conflict with director James Cameron's film, also called "Avatar", due for release around the same time.

Olly Richards at Empireonline.com has published a short interview with director M. Night Shyamalan about the upcoming live action Avatar movies. The article offers some interesting glimpses of how Shyamalan views the project, including this comment on the contribution of special effects:

"It can’t be special effects for the sake of special effects, it has to be [that you use] take seven because the girl breathes properly on take seven. I have to tell the animators that. Everything, has to have that detail. I can’t leave it. I have to make sure that I make it the same kind of storytelling, but with just one more tool."

The article also talks about what attracted Shyamalan to the project and some of the locations where they will be filming. Click on the link above to read the full article.

M. Night Shyamalan's environmental movie script now called "The Happening" has been picked up by Fox, and will be made before the Avatar movie. "The Happening" is a 'paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity', and will be rated R to be released in June 2008. According to Variety.com, Mr. Shyamalan will make this movie while he continues to write the script for the Avatar movie.
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       Variety.com

According to Variety.com, while M. Night Shyamalan was agreeing to do the Avatar movie, he was also showing several other studios his script about man vs. nature cataclysmic environment crisis. It wasn't picked up, but Shyamalan is rewriting the script and will give it another go in a month. If it gets picked up next time, it will probably be made before the Avatar movie.
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       Variety.com

M. Night Shyamalan has agreed to write, direct, and produce up to three live-action films based on the show for Paramount MTV Films and Nick Movies. It was not declared that Mr. Shyamalan would make this his next movie project, so it may be a while before production starts. There also may be problems because James Cameron is making an (unrelated) "Avatar" movie with Fox Entertainment, and there seems to be a dispute over the name rights.
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       Variety.com
       Yahoo! News

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