M. Night Shyamalan isn't a director known for big budget projects. The largest he worked with was Unbreakable, but even for a superhero movie he only spent about $75 million. Fairly paltry compared to the $280 million that the studio has spent on his latest venture, The Last Airbender. According to the Los Angeles Times, while the film was made for $150 million (not bad for a film that is meant to be one of the summer's biggest blockbusters), Paramount has gone all out with its promotion, nearly matching the initial budget with an additional $130 million.
When you think about it, this isn't really much of a gamble. Kid movies always have a handicap working in their favor because the little ones always bring their parents along and tend to go in groups. A family of four will drop about $35 while a teenager going to check out Inception will only pay $10. Add on the fact that it's an adaptation of an already popular series with a built in audience and Paramount is made in the shade. Besides, thanks to DVD sales no film loses money these days anyway; they just make back less.
