Last weekend, an X account with the username @ImStillDissin posted two minute-long clips from Avatar, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. He claimed to have been emailed the full movie by Paramount, but it turns out that "a friend from his hacker days" sent the movie his way.
The Hollywood Reporter (via Toonado.com) spoke with the anonymous social media user, who told them, "I saw it's just a Paramount+ thing, so I decided I'd troll a little bit." While he resisted bowing to pressure from people who wanted to see the movie in its entirety, it soon surfaced on platforms like 4Chan and X, where it continues to be distributed.
The leaker claims he never planned to post the entire movie "not necessarily out of respect to Paramount" but because it's a "jackass thing to do to the animators," many of whom have implored fans not to pirate The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender since it was leaked by the group known as "PeggleCrew."
Leaks like this have happened before, whether it's an early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that hit torrent sites in 2009 or screeners for The Revenant, Zero Dark Thirty, and Game of Thrones that appeared days or weeks in advance.
According to the trade, "Paramount has conducted an investigation into the incident. As part of the ongoing probe, the company eliminated the possibility that the leak was caused by a vulnerability in its systems, sources familiar with the situation tell The Hollywood Reporter. Clips of the movie on X are still being taken down through its copyright takedown process."
"The origin of the video he received is unclear. It was a recording of the movie, meaning there were likely security measures in place to prevent unauthorized downloading," the site continues. "The version of the film that was ultimately pirated across the internet was a high quality file, potentially indicating a breach of systems maintained by those that worked on the movie."
So, this was the result of a full-blown hack, likely meant to punish the studio for deciding that The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender would be "dumped" on Paramount+ instead of getting the theatrical release originally promised to fans.
The report explains that the decision to skip theaters wasn't a reflection of the film's quality, but part of Paramount's decision to make all future animated content from Avatar Studios exclusive to its streaming platform.
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender follows the world's last Airbender, who learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.
Directed by Lauren Montgomery, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender stars Eric Nam, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten, Román Zaragoza, Steven Yeun, Dave Bautista, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Freida Pinto, and Ke Huy Quan.
Originally, the movie was dated for an October 10, 2025, release. It was later pushed back to January 30, 2026, and is now scheduled for an October 9, 2026 debut on Paramount+.