The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise will get even bigger.
Nickelodeon launches Avatar Studios, a division designed to create original content that includes animated series and movies based on the franchise’s world.
Original creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will run the studio as co-chief creative officers and report to Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation.
Avatar Studios will produce content for platforms including Paramount + and Nickelodeon, as well as third-party platforms and theatrical releases.
The first project is an animated theatrical film that will go into production later this year.
Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender, which follows the adventures of the protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the devastating war with the Fire Nation that aired for three seasons between 2005 and 2008.
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It was followed by The Legend of Korra, which launched on Nickelodeon in 2012 and ran for four seasons.
The property has subsequently been translated into an ongoing graphic novel series written by TV series co-creator DiMartino, a live-action feature film starring Dev Patel and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and Netflix is making a live-action film. Avatar: The Last Airbender series, albeit without the involvement of Dante DiMartino and Konietzko.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and Once have grown at least tenfold in popularity since their original hit spinning on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius on board to run a studio dedicated to expanding their characters and world to new content and formats for fans everywhere, ”said Brian Robbins, President of ViacomCBS Kids & Family.
Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmark of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to empower Mike and Bryan with the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar while simultaneously expanding that world and the world of content available on Paramount + and Nickelodeon, ”he added.