A disaster from 2010, Noah Ringer’s The Last Airbender was a disappointing live adaptation of the much-adored source material, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The animated show was aired for the first time in 2005 and it instantly became a fan favorite, as fans adored the show for three seasons. While the film had a plethora of things wrong with it, one of the most visibly wrong things present in the film was the casting.
In the show, the characters were from different races, but in the film the characters were whitewashed, making the film an eyesore. Noah Rider portrayed the role of Aang, the last Airbender who had a difficult time surviving epic flop, and it was his passion that saved him from falling into the depths of depression.
Noah Ringer’s Passion for Taekwondo Saves Him from the Grief of a Failed Acting Career
M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender was a massive flop at the box office, the film had done a very poor job in adapting the animated series, as in the film the whole first season was stuffed into the film, and the subpar fight choreography with poor acting made the film unbearable for the viewers to watch.
While the project was a massive flop, most of the cast managed to save themselves from the aftermath of the box office bomb, but not Noah Ringer. The young actor’s fate was accursed as he starred in another box office disappointment, Cowboys & Aliens, where he portrayed the role of Emmett Taggert. The film was beyond saving, as the ill-fated production could not be a hit even with Daniel Craig and Abigail Spencer’s acting chops.
However, soon after the film’s failure, Ringer moved on as he decided to pursue his passion. As per IMDb, the 27-year-old is now a dedicated Taekwondo practitioner, and it was his skills that aided him in bagging the role of Aang. Moreover, while preparing for the role of the Last Airbender learned three new martial arts: Ba Gua Zhang, and Tai Chi (via First News); in 2010 he earned his First Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.
Nevertheless, Netflix has decided to have faith in another Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation and it looks like their gamble has paid off as the show has made a record, which the One Piece live-action adaptation could not even think of achieving.
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Creates an Astounding Record
Set in a fictional world where human society is divided into four nations based on the four elements — Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. The inhabitants of these lands can manipulate one of these elements by undergoing immense training. Aang portrayed by Gordon Cormier, is the Avatar, who can manipulate all the four elements and he is responsible for maintaining peace and harmony in the world.
Netflix adapted the popular Nickelodeon show into a live-action TV Series, which was entertaining to watch but had a number of criticisms regarding the storyline and the visual effects. However, as per Variety, the show has earned the #1 spot in Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings with under 2.6 billion minutes watched in the first four days of its release.
The numbers were nearly double that of Netflix’s other live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece which was streamed for around 1.3 billion minutes in the first four days. Interestingly, despite being watched for so much time, Avatar: The Last Airbender was ahead of One Piece by only 15% as per the data released by Netflix last month. This is because Netflix’s Top 10 measures viewership globally while Nielsen measures the watch time in the U.S.
The Last Airbender (2010) can be streamed on Paramount+.
