A trilogy of new Avatar: The Last Airbender movies have been announced – with original co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino on producing duties.
As revealed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (via Variety), Lauren Montgomery – who worked on the original Nickelodeon series, which ran from 2005 to 2008 – will be directing the first of three new Avatar movies.
"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," president of animation and development at Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Ramsey Naito said.
This will fall under the Avatar Studios banner – a studio formed in 2021 which, according to Konietzko and DiMartino at the time, is "an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums."
That collaboration, it seems, is starting to bear fruit. No word yet on a release date – or even a title – for the first Avatar: The Last Airbender animated movie, but it’s exciting news for those who are eager for more adventures from the universe that brought us Aang, Korra, and the Fire Nation.
Netflix, meanwhile, is producing its own live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series. The cast has been set, including Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Azai. Konietzko and DiMartino departed the project in 2020, with Konietzko citing a "a negative and unsupportive environment."
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