Suspect Accused of Leaking "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Movie Arrested
According to the Straits Times on Friday, a man accused of leaking the upcoming Nickelodeon animated film "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has been arrested in Singapore. Singapore police arrested the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, on suspicion of unauthorized access to media servers. This offense carries a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both.
On April 12th, X platform user ImStillDissin posted two clips from "Avatar: The Last Airbender," claiming Nickelodeon accidentally sent him the full film via email. The user also posted a screenshot of the film's end credits, revealing previously unannounced cast and voice actor lineups. The content was taken down due to copyright complaints, but measures ultimately failed to prevent its spread: the full film of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," allegedly leaked by a person in Singapore, subsequently circulated widely on sites like 4chan.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nickelodeon's parent company, Paramount, determined after investigating the leak that the incident was not accidental and was "not the result of a system vulnerability."
Singapore police stated that they received a report on April 16th regarding the circulation of portions of the film on social media. The suspect was reportedly arrested the following day. Police seized the suspect's electronic devices and recovered a copy of the film from them.
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" was officially announced in 2021, coinciding with the establishment of Avatar Studios, dedicated to creating content related to the Avatar series for Paramount+ and Nickelodeon. The new animated "Avatar: The Last Airbender" film was initially planned for theatrical release, but in 2025, as Paramount and Skydance Media merged, the company's distribution plans changed: Paramount decided to forgo the film's theatrical release and instead opted for a direct-to-streaming strategy. "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is scheduled to premiere on Paramount+ on October 9th.
Following the film's leak, creators involved in the production of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" condemned the leaker's actions and urged fans not to spread the leaked content.
“My heart is broken seeing some fans treat the hard work of creators this way. We spent years of our lives pouring our hearts into making the best possible version of this story,” said Tasha Breit, a key creative on the film. “Everyone involved in this project is rightfully upset with the current situation.”
Animator Julia Scher said, “We poured years of our lives into this expensive movie, and we were looking forward to celebrating all our hard work in theaters, only to see someone carelessly leak the entire film. I can’t accept people excusing the leak with Paramount’s bad decision to cancel the theatrical release.”
Even Michaela Jill Murphy (stage name Jessie Flower), the original voice actress for Toph in the series, spoke out against the leaker.
In a TikTok video, Murphy said, “Stop talking about it, stop sharing it. If you want to show respect, if you want to know how I feel, don’t share it, don’t watch it, don’t talk about it, just wait until it officially comes out. That’s what I’m doing. If you respect the creators, if you respect the voice actors, if you respect the art, then don’t share it, don’t edit it, don’t watch it, don’t comment on the leaked content.”