'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Is Officially Getting An Animated Movie

The Avatar: The Last Airbender universe is expanding! Nickelodeon is launching Avatar Studios, a new division to create original content spanning animated series and movies based on the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The announcement came out on Wednesday during ViacomCBS' Investor Day presentation, according to EW. The original creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will run the studio as co-chief creative officers. First in line, will be an animated theatrical film that is set to start production later this year.

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender ran from 2005 to 2008 for three seasons. It followed the story of a young 12-year-old monk Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the war with the ruthless Fire Nation. The Emmy and Peabody-winning show has been praised for its storytelling and has many loyal fans across the world. Soon after, The Legend of Korra launched on Nickelodeon in 2012 and ran for four seasons. As for expanding the franchise, in a statement to the outlet, DiMartino and Konietzko shared their excitement to "develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums. It's hard to believe it's been 19 years since we created Avatar: The Last Airbender," they said. "But even after all that time, there are still many stories and time periods in Aang's world that we are eager to bring to life. We are fortunate to have an ever-growing community of passionate fans that enjoys exploring the Avatarverse as much as we do."

"And with this new Avatar Studios venture we have an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums," they continued. "We are exceedingly grateful to [Nickelodeon president] Brian Robbins and [president of Nickelodeon Animation] Ramsey Naito for their enthusiasm and respect for the Avatar property and us as its stewards. From the start, they've supported our ambitious plans and created a positive, proactive environment for us." DiMartino and Konietzko concluded, "We're excited to be back at Nickelodeon where Avatar began, doing what we do best in the biggest way possible. We can't wait to build the great teams and productions to make all of this fantasy a reality."

“Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere,” said Brian Robbins, President, ViacomCBS Kids & Family, according to Deadline. “Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon,” he added.