Dev Patel in M. Shyamalan's The Last Airbender

Slumdog Millionaire going big is nothing new. But the 'slumdog' of the movie (Dev Patel) going big is news. Yes! The young lad is to be cast in Manoj Night Shyamalan's next project, The Last Airbender.�

According to the showbiz daily Variety, Dev will star alongside Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jessica Jade Andres in Shyamalan's adventure movie based on a Nickelodeon television series. It seems the ace director cast his eyes on Dev Patel even before Slumdog Millionaire became a phenomenon. Since the part that Dev was supposed to be play was already assigned to Jessy McCartney, the director did not approach him. But, when McCartney backed out on account of his music tours, Shyamalan asked for Dev and got him immediately. Variety has quoted the director saying, “The kid just grew in my eyes after I saw him in Slumdog Millionaire."

Paramount is set to release The Last Airbender in 2010 and�shooting�will commence from March in Greenland. All the best, Dev!