Avatar: The Last Airbender Announces New Movie Projects and Director
Avatar: The Last Airbender is ready to make a comeback, and the team at Avatar Studios has been hard at work to fulfill that dream. Paramount has pulled together a top-notch team at Avatar Studios to expand the universe Aang introduced years ago. Now, a new report about the franchise has gone live, and it wants fans to know there are three big movies in the works for Avatar.
In a press release, Ramsey Naito, President, Animation & Development for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation said "As original creators Mike and Bryan expand the Avatar universe with us, we're keeping it all in the family with Lauren bringing the same kind of expert, beautiful work she did on the original series to her new directing duties on the forthcoming theatrical."
Latifa Ouaou, Executive Vice President of Movies and Global Franchises for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, oversees the film's development, alongside Jason McConnell, Vice President of Animation, Nickelodeon Animation & Paramount Animation. This news comes as Nickelodeon and Paramount Animation hold a special presentation on Thursday, June 16th at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Paramount announced the formation of Avatar Studios in February 2021. Its purpose is to create new original content including animated series and movies based on the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe.
During an episode of the official Avatar: Braving the Elements podcast, Konietzko said that he and DiMartino have a "very ambitious, multi-tiered" plan to dig into "this big, rich, largely untapped history and future in the Avatar world." He followed up by saying that "Each of these projects [has] its own feeling, its own tone and look, so it will all feel true to the Avatar world, but they will all be very different expressions of it so it will really deepen it and expand it."
DiMartino added, "We're coming in now and we have unprecedented support from Nickelodeon, so it is the franchise, the shows and animated stuff, but also other stuff beyond, in publishing, and in podcasts like you're doing and all that stuf. We have all the ideas and ideally we're going to get to, over the years, explore all of them and get to make them, but it'll take some time. If we make all this stuff, you guys will just be podcasting for about the next 20 years or so."
While still undated, the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie is the latest addition to Paramount Animation's slate of upcoming films. Others include Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank on July 15th, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated movie on August 4, 2023, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie on October 13, 2023, The Tiger's Apprentice on December 20, 2023, a new Transformers animated movie on July 19, 2024, and an animated Smurfs musical movie on December 20, 2024.