Nickelodeon Announces 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Animated Film and Plans to Expand Franchise

'Avatar: The Last Airbender' creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will head up a new studio tasked with creating more content for the franchise.

avatar last airbender studio film
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GLóRIA DE DOURADOS, BRAZIL - 2020/06/15: In this photo illustration the Nickelodeon logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

avatar last airbender studio film

The world of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender and TheLegend of Korra will be expanding in the near future, Varietyreports.

The network will be launching Avatar Studios, which will be devoted to creating new movies and animated series for the franchise that will land on Paramount+, Nickelodeon, and in theaters. Fans will be happy to learn that the new studio will be run by Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The pair, who exited Netflix’s live-action adaptation this past summer, will take on the roles of co-chief creative officers and report to Nickelodeon Animation president Ramsey Naito. The first project that the studio is undertaking will be an animated theatrical film that is scheduled to start production this year. 

The news was announced at ViacomCBS’ Investor Day presentation on Wednesday​​​​​​​.

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere,” Brian Robbins, President, ViacomCBS Kids & Family, said. “Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.”

The original Avatar series aired between 2005 and 2008 for a total of three seasons. Legend of Korra, the sequel series to The Last Airbender, began airing in 2012 and ended in 2014. It ran for four seasons. 

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