Paramount has ditched plans for a theatrical release of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender in favor of an exclusive launch on streaming platform Paramount+.
The much-anticipated animated movie was due out in theaters on October 9, 2026. Paramount has now set Paramount+ as the exclusive home of Avatar Studios content, which means The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and original series Avatar: Seven Havens are both coming to the platform.
Avatar fans who were looking forward to seeing the movie in theaters next year are already questioning the decision, which comes as a surprise in the context of huge box office success for anime films in 2025. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, for example, has grossed an incredible $774 million at the global box office.
Meanwhile, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Dee Bradley Baker, Freida Pinto, and Ke Huy Quan join the previously announced cast of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which includes previously announced Dave Bautista (a so-far unannounced villain), Eric Nam (Aang), Jessica Matten (Katara), Dionne Quan (Toph), Román Zaragoza (Sokka), and Steven Yeun. Yeun, of The Walking Dead and Invincible fame, plays Zuko.
Here’s the official blurb on The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender:
Avatar Aang, the world’s last Airbender, 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 and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.
And here’s the official blurb on Avatar: Seven Havens:
Set in a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm, a young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra — but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse.
Avatar: Seven Havens consists of Book 1 (13 half-hour episodes) and Book 2 (13 half-hour episodes). Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serve as co-creators and executive producers. We got our first image of the show at SDCC 2025, where Konietzko confirmed plot and character details.
The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is already hugely popular on Paramount+, where The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender are streaming. The original series ranked among Nielsen’s Top 100 most-streamed titles during 17 of 139 weeks since its debut on the platform in March 2023.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
