Paramount reportedly believes the high-profile leak of The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender did not come from inside the studio itself, as the original leaker speaks out.
Reports from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter say Paramount has launched an investigation to work out how the hotly anticipated animated movie ended up plastered all over social media.
Over the weekend, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender was leaked to X / Twitter months ahead of its official premiere on Paramount+. The account that first leaked the movie said someone at Paramount-owned Nickelodeon “accidentally” emailed them the full film. However, according to Variety, “the initial investigation determined that the vulnerability had nothing to do with Paramount’s systems.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the person behind the X / Twitter account claimed “a friend from his hacker days sent him a full copy of the movie,” and, “He didn’t know what it was until he looked it up.” He posted the initial videos to social media to, he insisted, “troll a little bit.” Apparently he didn’t think it was a big deal because the movie isn’t set to release in theaters.
In December, it emerged that Paramount had 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, but Paramount subsequently set Paramount+ as the exclusive home of Avatar Studios content, forcing The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and original series Avatar: Seven Havens onto the platform.
Avatar fans who were looking forward to seeing the movie in theaters questioned the decision, which came as a surprise in the context of huge box office success for anime films last year. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, for example, grossed an incredible $774 million at the global box office.
Earlier this week, we reported on an animator who worked on The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, who had criticized those who were using Paramount’s “awful decision” to pull the movie from theaters “to justify leaking it.” Michaela Jill Murphy, the original voice of Toph Beifong in Avatar: The Last Airbender, subsequently told fans that they should avoid the leaks completely.
After the X / Twitter account posted the initial clips of the movie, the entire film leaked online from another account. “Welp movie just got leaked on 4chan. GG,” the original leaker tweeted on April 13. “And no anon I’m not getting extradited over a cartoon movie chill out.”
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.
