Last year, some welcome news came out of Paramount: they were finally aware how much of a fanbase their Avatar (the bald kid, not the blue guys) franchise had, and were at last willing to produce more content related to it. In fact, they were going far enough to found an entire branch of their animation department JUST for making ATLA stuff: it would henceforth be known as Avatar Studios.
It’s been a while since then and there hasn’t been any information since…until now. Avatar Studios has revealed what they plan to make first: not just one, but THREE animated films “set in the Avatar universe.” Creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino will serve as producers and the first film has already been assigned a director, Lauren Montgomery (who served on both ATLA and Korra).
“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,” said Ramsey Naito, president of animation & development at Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation.
During the announcement of Avatar Studios in 2021, Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins was asked specifically what he had in mind for the future of ATLA. He said there would be TV shows “certainly,” multiple TV films “maybe” and a theatrical animated film “definitely.” If that statement still holds true, it could mean these movies are meant for the big screen, though let’s admit it — 2D-animated theatrical features are rare these days. In the last five years, there’s been Bob’s Burgers and…..um….that’s about it.
As for what these movies are ABOUT…no one knows. Whether they center on Aang or Korra, or different characters we haven’t seen before…if they tell a complete story or three separate ones…there’s a lot that’s unanswered and may be for a while. We’ll bring you further info as we hear it.
