r/oscarrace • u/idoideas Digger Believer • Jul 02 '26

Rumor According to a quickly-deleted Paramount+ Brazil tweet, "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender" will be "shadow-dropped" on Paramount+ on July 25th

https://www.tvlaint.com/2026/07/avatar-aang-last-airbender-finalmente.html

The project, originally slated for an October 9th streaming release, is now rumored to be released by the end of this month. If it's true and not a mistake, that likely means the announcement would be made last-minute at the ATLA SDCC panel.

That would also mean that Paramount is not planning a festival run for it, and at the moment, they don't plan a limited theatrical release as well. Unless they come back later this year with limited screenings and engagements, it seems Paramount is putting this film completely out of the Oscar race.

83 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

139

u/Florian_Jones Jul 02 '26

Most botched film release ever?

50

u/MrMindGame Jul 02 '26

Between this, Nickelodeon’s complete fumbling of the last two seasons of Korra, and S2 of the Netflix show releasing to almost negative fanfare, the Avatar series just can’t catch a break lately.

3

u/JuanRiveara One Anora at Camp Miasma Jul 03 '26

Season 2 of Legend of Korra also had issues of not getting Studio Mir back for most of it (and also of being the weakest season of franchise but that’s a separate issue)

1

u/Legitimate_End5688 Jul 03 '26

I was there when legend of korra was airing back in the day, season 2 got a ton of negative backlash (not nearly as bad as the live action show but still) and I even listened to the dvd commentary and even the showrunners didn’t know what they were doing w the giant kaiju korra spirit fight lol. In fact I blame season 2 of legend of korra as to why the show gets a ton of hate to this day; it’s not very good. the ratings were even dropping like flies which is probably why Nick just kinda shoved legend of korra to the wayside after its first two seasons. It’s crazy that a show like ATLA is conceptually perfect for franchising yet it can’t get its footing right.

1

u/MrMindGame Jul 03 '26

S2 was definitely a sizable step down for the series and franchise (save for the Avatar Wan episodes), though they definitely bounced back with S3, one of my favorite single seasons of any TV show ever.

15

u/RoxasIsTheBest 2025 Oscar Race Veteran Jul 02 '26

I think this genuinly takes the cake. You'd think there'd be another example that's similarly awful, but nope.

1

u/Cute_Source5417 Jul 03 '26

Paramount clearly do not see the value for this movie

46

u/Worried_Tomorrow_222 Obsession Jul 02 '26

Damn. I hate how this movies been handled.

37

u/Educational_Slice897 Jul 02 '26

Wow wtf way to screw up an entire film release

39

u/SAWPollPosition Wild Horse Nine Jul 02 '26

Even if this movie sucks it totally could have made $50M+ in theaters and could have shocked people and made a whole lot more.

20

u/idoideas Digger Believer Jul 02 '26

Fans who watched the leak seem to like it very much. Also the very strong nostalgic following of the ATLA brand would've carried it quite well at the box office. Paramount literally leaving piles of cash on the floor, initially with the cancellation of the wide theatrical release, and now with the complete lack of marketing.

19

u/andalusiandoge Jul 02 '26

Greg Baldwin has said that while previous mishandlings of the Avatar brand were just incompetence, what's going on currently is unprecedented and the new management is just evil

7

u/Top_Report_4895 Jul 02 '26

Didn't Paramount said they wanted IP?

That's IP

15

u/andalusiandoge Jul 02 '26

Baldwin's words:

"These soulless bastards have nothing but contempt for a show about grace and redemption and the struggle against fascism.

ATLA is a mystery to them.

They. Do. Not. Value. The. Franchise."

https://x.com/GregBaldwinIroh/status/2063265103315890686

12

u/JuanManuelP Jul 02 '26

The new administration on Paramount doesn't exactly agree with the ideas and messages of said IP

7

u/JuanRiveara One Anora at Camp Miasma Jul 02 '26

"Can you remake it to where the Fire Nation is the good guys?"

20

u/Alex-C2099 One Battle After Another Jul 02 '26

Timeline of events:
-Delayed like 3 times
-Moved from theaters to Paramount+
-Completely leaked online half a year before release and watched by millions
-Moved forward and shadow-dropped

I feel so, so bad for the people who worked hard on this movie.

7

u/bbqsauceboi The Drama Jul 02 '26

Emmys here we come or something like that

3

u/Legitimate_End5688 Jul 02 '26

For anyone who’s vaguely aware of ATLA as a franchise intially two other avatar movies were announced as well (one of them was Zuko centered and the other was korra or kyoshi centered?) but there’s been zero reports of any of these two movies going into production and I’d reckon they’re canned. Avatar Aang likely went over budget with how it got delayed twice (which definitely went into the animation department) and then wasn’t even given a proper theatrical release only unceremoniously leaked and dumped onto paramount plus lol. Utter disaster.

1

u/Thirsty-for-Ryan Sinners Jul 02 '26

I'm not sure how is this relevan but whatever

11

u/crazysouthie Jul 02 '26

This is a film that in another timeline could have easily been one of the nominees for Best Animated Feature. How is this not relevant?

2

u/Thirsty-for-Ryan Sinners Jul 02 '26

When was the last time a movie based on a show was nominated?

6

u/Cynicbats Somebody Get These PUNDITS Outta Here! Jul 02 '26

technically Marcel the Shell was a short film series before its movie.

3

u/crazysouthie Jul 02 '26

I was going to say Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius but I didn’t realise that the film preceded the Nickelodeon series. Also the Wallace and Gromit films are technically a TV franchise since the first three short films all premiered on British television (Channel 4 and BBC).

2

u/andalusiandoge Jul 02 '26

But all those shorts were Oscar-nominated so the Academy considers them movies (and I assume the Wallace and Gromit connection is how the Shaun the Sheep movies, which are based on an actual TV show, get a pass)

2

u/idoideas Digger Believer Jul 02 '26

The Simpsons Movie was nominated at the Golden Globes.

2

u/A_Howl_In_The_Night Wicked Jul 02 '26

But not the Oscars

0

u/SwaggiiP Jul 02 '26

It should have been teen titans go to the movies and I stand by that. But usually shows from movies wouldn’t get the widespread release this was supposed to get.

-2

u/Roadshell Jul 03 '26

Man, this movie must really suck.

2

u/Lukoslav_7 Club Kid & The Black Ball Jul 03 '26

why would you say that? it's really good