Dev Patel has spent the last few months living the "Slumdog Millionaire" Oscar ride and now he's been plucked by M. Night Shyamalan for his first studio film, the live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon TV series "The Last Airbender." Variety reports Patel will play Zuko, a member of the fire nation. Joining him is newcomer Noah Ringer will will play Aang, the film's hero and the last member of a race who had powers over the elements of air. The 12-year-old Ringer, who was cast off an Internet audition, replaces Jesse McCartney whose tour dates conflicted with the "boot camp" Shyamalan scheduled before production. HitFix Staff <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Dev Patel has spent the last few months living the "Slumdog Millionaire" Oscar ride and now he's been plucked by M. Night Shyamalan for his first studio film, the live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon TV series "The Last Airbender."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999413.html?categoryid=13" target="_self">Variety</a> reports Patel will play Zuko, a member of the fire nation.&nbsp; Joining him is newcomer Noah Ringer will will play Aang, the film's hero and the last member of a race who had powers over the elements of air.&nbsp; The 12-year-old Ringer, who was cast off an Internet audition, replaces Jesse McCartney whose tour dates conflicted with the "boot camp" Shyamalan scheduled before production. <br /><br />Also coming on board are Nicola Peltz as the Water Tribe rep Katara and Jessica Jade Andrews as the Earth Kingdom's representative Suki.&nbsp; "Twilight's" Jackson Rathbone has also been cast in the potential franchise.<br /><br />Production on "Airbender" is expected to begin in mid-March in Greenland.&nbsp; Paramount Pictures has set a release date for July 2, 2010.</p> movies 2009-02-02T06:40:49Z 401 Jesse McCartney drops out of lead role due to touring conflicts 2038-01-01T00:00:00Z false 269 false false false false false false false false false false 2009-2-2-patel-goes-hollywood-with-airbender 2009-02-02T01:11:00Z Dev Patel lands his first studio gig with 'The Last Airbender' published Eastern Time (US & Canada) http://tinyurl.com/msfok6 Patel goes Hollywood with 'Airbender' 2009-09-01T03:38:30Z false 5 17