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Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender may be a kids show, but it’s a kids show with a devoted cult following who fell in love with its elemental martial arts adventures. So fans were thrilled when, after a surge in popularity thanks to the pandemic, Nickelodeon green-lit a new studio to produce movies and shows.
But an online leak has spoiled Aang the Airbender’s glorious return.
Unfortunately, an X user said Nickelodeon "accidentally" emailed them the entire film, so they leaked three minutes of it (two scenes) on Sunday, and later, someone else leaked the entire movie on another website. The posts got hundreds of thousands of likes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, Paramount's investigation has determined that the leak didn't come from within the studio. The leaker, who said they aren't even a fan of Avatar, told the publication that it came from a hacker friend.
"I saw it’s just a Paramount+ thing, so I decided I’d troll a little bit," the person said.
The leaked scenes on X were removed from the site after they were reported for copyright infringement, but a lot of damage has already been done. After they'd posted the scenes to X, someone else leaked the entire film on Monday.
The Hollywood Reporter states that the leaked film was a recording of the movie but the version of the film that was ultimately pirated across the internet was a high-quality file, which makes it look like a breach of systems maintained by those who worked on the movie.
One artist who worked on the film wrote on X that they were very upset about the leak.
"I totally understand folks not wanting to pay for/support paramount+ but pirating the movie after its release would have at least been better than this," Julia Schoel wrote. "This is incredibly disrespectful to all of the hard work the artists put in.”
We worked on the aang movie for years with the expectation that’d we’d get to celebrate all of our hard work in theaters.. just to see
— jul 🐯 (@papajoolia) April 14, 2026
people unceremoniously leak the film and pass our shots around on twitter like candy.. (1/3)
On Wednesday, the original voice actress for Toph Beifong, Michaela Jill Murphy, made a TikTok asking people not to engage with it.
"Stop talking about it, and stop sharing things about it," she said. "If you want to be respectful, and if you want to know how I feel, stop sharing it. Stop consuming it. Stop talking about it. And watch it when it comes out. That’s what I’m doing. And if you want to respect the creators and respect the cast and respect me, and respect the art, then stop sharing it and editing it and looking at it and commenting about it."
@michaelajillmurphy for those asking…it’s not that hard. stop consuming it and using it. super disrespectful. #atla #movie #toph #nickelodeon #avatar ♬ The Avatar's Love (From Avatar: The Last Airbender) - CJ Music & Narratio
The leak is just the latest in disappointments about the film. Paramount already ditched an October 9 theatrical release for the film, deciding instead to stream it on Paramount+, to the ire of fans. It would’ve been incredible to see what was one of the best animated TV shows come to the big screen with a new storyline and grown-up characters.
While the original series was big in the early aughts, it saw a resurgence in 2020, when it topped the streamer’s daily chart for more than 60 consecutive days. During the pandemic, many folks, including me, rediscovered the show. That year, it was a record for a non-Netflix original, The Hollywood Reporter says. Even last year, it was still ranked as the third most-streamed animated show on the platform.
The new movie follows Avatar Aang, now a young adult, as he learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands. It was directed by Lauren Montgomery, Steve Ahn and William Mata with voices by Dave Bautista, Steven Yeun and Eric Nam among others.
If the show taught us anything, it’s to be respectful. So in the spirit of the GAang and as Murphy says in her TikTok as her character Toph, "You’ve got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element, so if you’re going to move it, you’ve got to be like a rock yourself.”
"So maybe just practice some discipline and patience,” she continues. "Flag videos where you see clips from it. Respect the art and respect the creators. I know everybody might not listen, but that's not a reason for you not to listen. Just be respectful and wait."