Avatar Anime Disappoints Fans With Brutal Change
Paramount Pictures has pushed back the release date for its animated Avatar: The Last Airbender film from October 10, 2025, to January 20, 2026. The movie, which is commonly known as Aang: The Last Airbender, will be directed by Lauren Montgomery, who served as storyboard artist for the third season of the animated Nickelodeon series.
A Surprising Development
The three-month delay comes as a surprise since Avatar: The Last Airbender was on track for release when details about the film were revealed at Cinemacon 2024. While specific plot details remain under wraps, the story will follow an adult Aang on various adventures set after the events of the animated series.
The Cast
Paramount also announced the cast for the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, which includes singer Eric Nam as Aang and Dave Bautista as an unnamed villain. Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten, and Roman Zaragoza will also lend their voices to Avatar: The Last Airbender in undisclosed roles. Series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will executive produce the project.
A New Studio
The animated Avatar: The Last Airbender movie was announced, along with the formation of Avatar Studios, during the ViacomCBS annual Investor Day event in 2021. The studio serves as a new division of Nickelodeon, which will focus on animated projects based on the Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra series.
The Series
The animated Avatar: The Last Airbender series, which initially aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, is set in a world where people, known as “benders,” can telekinetically manipulate water, earth, fire, or air. But the Avatar is the only one who can bend all the elements and is tasked with keeping balance in the world.
The series tells the story of twelve-year-old Aang, the current Avatar and last survivor of the Air Nomads, as he works to end the Fire Nation’s war against the other countries and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before he conquers the world. The extended Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise includes an ongoing comics series, a prequel novel series, and a live-action series produced for Netflix.
The Universally Hated Film That Nevertheless Made Money
In addition to the animated content, the Avatar franchise includes the 2010 live-action film, The Last Airbender, from director by M. Night Shyamalan. Like the series, the story follows the adventures of Aang, the youngest in a long line of Avatars, who needs to master all the elements to prevent the Fire Nation from enslaving the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes.
The Last Airbender earned $319.7 million at the global box office, with $131.8 million in the US and $187.9 million in other countries. It earned $16.6 million on its US opening day, ranking fifth overall for Thursday openings, and $40.3 million over the Fourth of July weekend. About 54 percent of its total earnings came from 3D showings.
Internationally, Avatar: The Last Airbender brought in $9 million on its opening weekend, with $8 million coming from Russia, where it was the top film. Overall, it was the 20th highest-grossing film of 2010 and the fourth-highest-grossing Nickelodeon Movies production. Despite its earnings, the movie was widely maligned by critics and fans.
Source: Deadline
