‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Franchise To Expand With Launch Of Nickelodeon’s Avatar Studios, Animated Theatrical Film In The Works

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The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is set to get even bigger.

Nickelodeon is launching Avatar Studios, a division designed to create original content spanning animated series and movies based on the franchise’s world.

The original creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will run the studio as co-chief creative officers, reporting to Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation.

Avatar Studios will produce content for platforms including Paramount+ and Nickelodeon as well as third-party platforms and theatrical releases.

The first project is an animated theatrical film that is set to start production later this year.

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, which follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation, aired for three seasons between 2005 and 2008.

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It was followed by The Legend of Korra, which launched on Nickelodeon in 2012 and ran for four seasons.

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The property has subsequently been translated into a ongoing graphic novel series written by TV series co-creator DiMartino, a live-action feature film starring Dev Patel and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and Netflix is making a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, albeit without the involvement of Dante DiMartino and Konietzko.

“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,” said Brian Robbins, President, ViacomCBS Kids & Family.

“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,” he added.

Ethereal-Kerfuffle on February 24th, 2021 at 23:18 UTC »

Send word to the fanbase immediately! The Avatar has returned!

jtf1028 on February 24th, 2021 at 23:12 UTC »

Bryke leaving the netflix show ends up being the best possible thing that could happen.

Khuroh on February 24th, 2021 at 23:08 UTC »

Nickelodeon acknowledging Avatar and actually investing in it? Am I dreaming?

edit: I really hope at least one of these projects is about a fully realized adult Avatar at the height of their powers.