Director M.Night Shyamalan addresses ‘After Earth’, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ flops, admits pressured to feel accepted
KUALA LUMPUR: Director M.Night Shyamalan has shed light on a couple of his highpriced studio films that were heavily criticised when it came out.
This includes the 2010 adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender as well as his 2013 sci-fi action film, After Earth which starred actor Will Smith alongside his son, Jaden Smith.
The 52-year-old director recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he had made a ‘genuine effort to join the system’ after feeling the pressure of wanting to get accepted in the industry.
“All of us go through moments in our lives where we want to be accepted. We get tired of the fight and having to defend who we are.
“And tacitly, or sometimes overtly, they’ll say, ‘You are wrong for doing it this way. You’re arrogant. If you just do this, this and this, it’ll all work out for you.’ and I went, ‘OK, maybe you’re right.
“So I made a genuine effort to join the system, but I learned that the special thing that makes me happy was hard to do within that system,” he said.
The Sixth Sense director added that he was happy for the opportunity to work on those films however he felt that there are better filmmakers who would fit those styles of storytelling rather than himself.
The post-apocalyptic After Earth film under Columbia Pictures had a US$130 million budget (RM552 million) and managed to collect over US$250 million (RM1.06 billion) in worldwide box office.
However, the film was bombed by critics and audiences due to the film not living up to its highproduction budget. Meanwhile Avatar: The Last Airbender, an adaptation from a popular animated series from Nickelodeon, aired on the channel from 2005 to 2008.
The adaptation announced in 2007 faced problems since its production stage where fans voiced disappointment with the casting of white actors in roles inspired by East Asian cultures.
The film which was released under Paramount Pictures collected over US$319 million (RM1.36 billion) worldwide box office but was heavily criticised by fans and critics for its poor adaptation from the animated series.