Stephen

I will NOT be discussing the content of the leaks or the plot of the movie, just my thoughts about the situation.

I will be honest - I am quite sad about this. I just saw that as of this morning, it’s confirmed that the ENTIRE movie has been leaked (though it may not be the final product). This reminds me of what happened with LoK S3, and those of us who watched LoK as it was airing all know what happened as a result (the last half of S3 and all of S4 being shoved online without hardly any promo as a result of “poor ratings”).

As someone who is both an artist and a huge fan of ATLA for almost 20 years now, I am heartbroken for all of the people who worked on this film. First, Paramount doesn’t attempt to market the film at all, then they decide to shove it to Paramount+ instead of releasing it in theaters as originally intended. Now, without ANY advertisement for the movie having been released, the entire movie is now just… out there.

Yesterday, when I saw the two clips that had been leaked, my initial reaction was excitement. But shortly after, I just had a feeling of dread the whole rest of the day. I didn’t even finish watching the second clip because it felt wrong to be watching something from the movie in that way.

I know Paramount and their CEO especially suck, and that a lot of people were planning on going to The High Seas to watch the movie once the official release came. And I don’t care about Paramount losing money, but this movie is clearly such a labor of love, and its success if it had been kept in theaters and not leaked would have shown Paramount just how much they are fumbling this extremely popular and beloved franchise. But now, I’m worried that so many people will watch the leaks, and when the movie actually comes out, not many people will watch it officially, giving Paramount the excuse of “lack of interest” in the franchise due to “poor ratings”, just like with Legend of Korra S3 & 4.

I know lots of people are already watching the movie. But I’m not sure if I can bring myself to. I want to support the official release for the artists and animators. Which I still would even if I did watch the leaked movie. But I feel like if I did watch it, I would just have a sour taste in my mouth the whole time. And yet, I keep seeing untagged spoilers at every turn. I don’t know.

This whole situation is just sad. That’s the only way I can describe it.