Online Reporter
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. If you know, you know.
Over the weekend, the much-anticipated upcoming animated film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender (also referred to as Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender) was leaked in its entirety online, a staggering six months before its scheduled October 9 release.
But how did a movie like this get leaked?
How the leak occurred
The leak originated on X (formerly Twitter) when a user under the handle @ImStillDissin posted footage of the unreleased movie.
The user claimed that the leak happened because Nickelodeon “accidentally emailed” them the full film. The initial video rapidly gained traction, accumulating over 100,000 likes before being removed. Despite Paramount issuing DMCA takedown notices against accounts sharing the unauthorised footage, full versions of the movie have continued to surface across the social media platform.
The fan reaction
The leak arrived on the heels of a controversial decision by Paramount in December to cancel the movie’s planned theatrical release in favour of making it a Paramount+ streaming exclusive. Because of this, the fan reaction to the leak has been highly polarised. Some fans responded enthusiastically, actively sharing the leaked footage and using Paramount’s “awful decision” to pull the theatrical release as justification for watching the early leak.
Other users simply found humour in the situation, with one viral post memeing that the internet got the full Avatar movie before the release of the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto 6.
Industry and creator backlash
While some fans celebrated the early access, the artists and creators behind the film were left devastated. The creative team has strongly condemned those using Paramount’s streaming pivot to justify spreading the film.
Animator Julia Schoel expressed deep frustration, calling the situation “incredibly disrespectful to all of the hard work the artists put in”.
Schoel explained that leaking an unfinished project before its official marketing and premieres “undermines the entire effort” at its most vulnerable moment.Schoel raised concerns that this would ultimately harms the film’s reputation and damages future opportunities for the animators. —IOL
Mathew Masinge