The Last Airbender moves shoot to Navy Yard

This week, M. Night Shyamalan and his Last Airbender cast and crew will shoot at the Navy Yard in South Philly on what could be the largest soundstage on the East Coast.

It’s a World War II seaplane hangar that served as the PX for the Navy until it was decommissioned – 75-foot ceilings over about 100,000 square feet, or almost two football fields, including end zones. Paramount knocked out the hangar’s temporary columns, walls, and ceilings, so it’s all clear. “Built for war and indestructible” is how Greater Philadelphia Film Office head Sharon Pinkenson describes it. Before Shyamalan got ahold of it for his action film, it was used for storage of equipment for the X Games during the winter between the competition’s two summers in Philadelphia.