Jake here.  Yeah this news is a little delayed.  However, in case you've been sleeping under a rock the past few days, "Slumdog Millionaire," which stars Dev Patel, the actor who will portray Zuko in the Avatar live action movies, took home 8 Oscars at the Academy Awards this past Sunday.  The film's 8 wins were by far the most of any at the event.  In total, "Millionaire" was nominated for 10 Oscars.

Patel himself was not nominated, but he did earn one unofficially - as the film took home the Oscar for "Motion Picture of the Year."

Also of note, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, referenced below, both produced "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."  The film won for "Best Visual Effects" and was nominated for "Best Picture."  Though the visual effects will be done by a different studio, I think both those are worth noting because they are also producers for "The Last Airbender" and obviously the movie will rely heavily upon visual effects.

Check out the full list of winners here.  Thanks to the folks in the C-Box for (indirectly) reminding me!

Jake here, and here is some fun news for the day: Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, both of whom are working with M. Night Shyamalan on "The Last Airbender," once were going to produce the Narnia films, which eventually was passed on to Walden Media and producers Andrew Adamson and Marc Johnson.

In an article on NarniaFans.com, Marshall explains how in all his years, the only thing he couldn't make work was the Narnia franchise.  Now this may worry some people, but it shouldn't.  Narnia is a much more complex world than Avatar (like the trees walk around and there are half-human, half-animals and such).  Even though he never got the Narnia franchise up and running, Marshall is an experienced producer who should do an excellent job on "The Last Airbender."

My point in posting this was just to provide an interesting read for those who are fans of Narnia and Avatar.  I'm a fan of both and had not known of the connection, so I think it's kind of neat, even though Marshall and Kennedy weren't able to make Narnia work.  But they are experienced with the fantasy genre to an extent, so it's good to know we'll have someone competent pulling the strings.

Also - and we regret missing this - but yesterday, Saturday, February 21, 2009, marked the 4-year anniversary of Avatar's original premiere on Nickelodeon.  For some of us, that day still seems like it was yesterday (even though literally, February 21st WAS yesterday from the time of this post).  I remember watching the premiere and thinking it was ok, and Nick kept replaying it, so I watched it a few more times.  Little did I know I'd be starting a fansite for the show with a year after that time.

Jake here, and there is an interesting tidbit of news about the movie today on DailyMail.co.uk.  Here is a snippet from one of their articles:

"He [Dev Patel] flies directly from LA next week to shoot his first post-Slumdog movie M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender in Greenland where Dev will display his love of martial arts. There are a lot of action scenes and it's primarily for a young audience."

According to this, filming begins next week in Greenland.  It would make sense to begin filming in Greenland, as that is likely where both the Northern and Southern Water tribes will be brought to life.  Also most likely they will film the ending around the same time in Greenland, as opposed to making the trip there twice.  This isn't completely confirmed, but it's interesting if true.  According to previous reports it makes sense they would begin filming around this time, so it could be true.

If this is true, we could definitely be seeing a trailer this summer.  There is currently no information about "The Last Airbender" being promoted at any conventions, but it would make sense, as it is going to be one of next summer's blockbusters (hopefully).  The Chicago convention is in April and San Diego Comic Con is in July, as usual.  The New York Comic Con was held earlier this month and although there wasn't an Avatar panel, there were a number of cosplayers present.  It's likely M. Night Shyamalan will be at one of those conventions with a trailer!  We can hope, at least.

Thanks to Josh for the info, as usual.

Jake here, with the latest in the string of Avatar movie news we have been getting over the past two months.  It appears as though director M. Night Shyamalan has found one of many locations he will need to film in for the 2010 Paramount film.  The Pagoda in Reading is a location Shyamalan is seriously considering, and from the looks of it, rightly so.  It has a very Avatar-look to it, and it's not too far from Philly, which is the base of operations for the film.  Take a look: http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles37962.jpg.  Doesn't that just scream Avatar? (Minus the truck and normally dressed people, that is)

It's kind of funny to read what the little kids have to say on the series - there are so many teenaged people and older who are in love with the show that sometimes we do forget it was a Nickelodeon show.  For example, one kid describes Avatar like this:

"I like it because there's a lot of people and action and stuff. Because they have super powers and fight the bad people."

And another kid:

"I like the part when he masters all the powers."

Oh how these kids will love it much more in a few years.

Thanks to Josh (i_mourn_the_wicked) for the heads up!

Dylan here and Variety reports that Dev Patel has replaced Jesse McCartney to play Zuko, and Jessica Jade Andres will play Suki in the upcoming "The Last Airbender." Dev Patel was incredible in Slumdog Millionaire, and is now easily the biggest name on the cast. Andres is basically an unknown having played minor parts in Ned's Declassified, and Gossip Girl. Shyamalan sites conflicts with tour dates as the reason why McCartney was replaced.