Avatar: The Last Airbender has become quite the topic of conversation. Not only due to it being an iconic anime and manga, but because of the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation of the same. The animated series became a classic among fans of anime, showcasing beautiful stories about excellently written characters in a deeply immersive world.
Considering just how beloved the series is, it is no surprise that it was adapted into a medium that an even bigger audience can enjoy.
While the new series is highly anticipated, it is difficult to forget that this will not be the first attempt at a live-action. In 2010, a film of the same name was released by M. Night Shyamalan, and it left fans deeply disappointed on many different levels. During a recent interview, Albert Kim, the showrunner of the Netflix adaptation revealed that he has intentionally never seen the film.
Albert Kim Has Not Seen Shaymalan’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
Albert Kim, the showrunner of the Netflix adaptation of Avatar, recently gave an interview with EW, where he talked about the unfortunate 2010 adaptation that left fans in deep dismay. The Avatar: The Last Airbender film has a reputation for being bad, not only as an adaptation but also as a movie.
This is quite surprising considering the director, M. Night Shyamalan, is one of the most respected and talented filmmakers in Hollywood. Despite having Oscar nominations to his name, the film only has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“I’ll tell you something, I never watched the Shyamalan movie,” Albert Kim told, “There was a period of time where I thought I should watch it, but then I thought, I don’t really want those images in my head as I start to go forward with our version of this project. So I avoided it purposefully.”
Kim spoke about his thoughts on the film, revealing that he had, in fact, never seen it. He elaborated, stating that though there was a point where he thought of watching the film, he decided against it for one very big reason. He did not want his vision to get muddled thanks to an adaptation that is known for being severely inaccurate.
Despite this, there was one thing that Kim was certain of. He knew that his series would be a lot better than Shaymalan’s film.
Albert Kim Was Positive That His Series Would Be Better
Albert Kim went on to say that despite having not seen the 2010 adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, he was confident that his series would not get the same criticism that it did and would be better. The M. Night Shyamalan film had a lot of things that went wrong; from its casting of white actors in roles that required Asian or Indigenous actors, to the poor quality thanks to the acting and visual effects.
One would argue that Kim should have watched the film to make sure he did not repeat the same mistakes, however, the producer believes that there was no way that this could happen.
“I knew what fans didn’t like about it in general,” Kim continues, “but those kinds of pitfalls weren’t hard to avoid. For instance, an authentic version of the casting, that’s something that we would’ve done regardless. And, to be fair, Shymalan’s movie was made at a time when the technology hadn’t caught up yet to what the world deserved. So I knew that the VFX was going to be much better than whatever they did anyway.”
Kim stated that regardless of whether he had watched the 2010 film or not, the casting would have been done correctly this time. Additionally, he also mentioned that since times have changed, the visual effects have gotten a lot better. With this, Kim knew that his Netflix adaptation would not be subjected to the same criticism.
