Nickelodeon's celebrated animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender created a unique fantasy world which has been growing since it first aired in 2005. Now, the franchise is getting its own division of the studio to accommodate more original animated content, beginning with a movie for theatrical release.
The new Avatar Studios, according to the company's press release, will be led by co-chief creative officers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original series' creators and executive producers. The team will report to Nickelodeon Animation's President, Ramsey Naito.
A full-length animated Avatar film from the studio is planned to start production this year. Avatar Studios will continue to produce original content for Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and third-party platforms.
The original animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, ran for three seasons and was followed by Avatar: The Legend of Korra, a four-season-long sequel series set a generation later. Lauded for their epic action, extensive worldbuilding and engaging cast of characters, the shows are set in a fantastic world in which individuals of different cultures may wield one of the four elements, with one Avatar being the master of all four.
The franchise has already spawned ongoing comics that continue the story of the animated shows, video games and a live-action feature film. Konietzko and series co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino were involved until recently with a live-action remake of Avatar being produced by Netflix, but both creators have since departed the project.
President of ViacomCBS Kids & Family Brian Robbins said of Avatar Studios, "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."
"It’s hard to believe it’s been 19 years since we created Avatar: The Last Airbender," said Konietzko and DiMartino. "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. We are exceedingly grateful to Brian Robbins and Ramsey Naito for their enthusiasm and respect for the Avatar property and us as its stewards."
Source: Deadline