Aang director confirms the next Avatar movie has wrapped but seems to be still fighting for a theatrical release: "This movie deserves to be seen on a big screen"

(Image credit: Nickelodeon)

Despite being pulled from theatrical release and destined to premiere on streaming, upcoming animated sequel movie Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is still moving forward and has finally wrapped production.

The news was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery on Instagram, writing, "Aang movie is officially wrapped. We screened the final film for the crew and celebrated the end of a 4 year journey. Now it waits in limbo until its release in October. I’ve never worked on an Avatar project that was easy and this was no different. But it was worth it. I’m so proud of everyone who was a part of this and the amazing thing we built together."

Although the movie is seemingly finished, it is still expected to premiere on Paramount Plus on October 9, 2026. This follows a series of delays, which saw the movie, which was expected to be released in October 2025, be pushed back to January 2026, and then to October 2026. Its theatrical release was then scrapped entirely, and Aang moved to Paramount's streaming service.

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However, Montgomery promises that the move to streaming is no reflection of the project itself. "The movie is amazing," added Montgomery, "The recent decision to move us from theatrical to streaming might give the impression that the quality wasn’t sufficient, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This movie deserves to be seen on a big screen!!! Can’t wait for you all to see it!" It sounds as though there is still hope for Aang's big screen debut.

Serving as a sequel to the highly popular animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which ran on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, Avatar Aang follows the world's last Airbender as he fights to save his culture from extinction before the power falls into the wrong hands. Avatar Aang is the first movie from Avatar Studios.

The voice cast includes Eric Nam, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten, Román Zaragoza, Steven Yeun, Dave Bautista, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Freida Pinto, and Ke Huy Quan.

For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies, or, skip straight to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.