SINGAPORE: A man in Singapore now faces a seven-year jail sentence after he leaked a copy of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.
The online leak had been under investigation from Paramount+, with sources familiar with the matter being quoted in Variety as saying that it did not come from the studio itself.
The animated film is based on “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a series from Nickelodeon. The voice cast is led by Dave Bautista, Steven Yeun, and Eric Nam, and the movie is co-directed by William Mata. An Australian company called Flying Bark Productions was behind the film’s animation.
The film was leaked in full on X, which is a rare occurrence, especially for films that are not scheduled to be shown for some time yet. Variety reported that the film had initially been scheduled for cinematic release on Oct 9. However, when the studio chose instead to show it only on Paramount+, many fans protested.
A spokesperson for the studio was quoted as saying, “It was heartbreaking to see footage from ‘The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender’ leak online. This leak did not originate from Flying Bark. Our studio proudly partnered on the production until the very end, and we acknowledge the filmmakers, cast, artists, and animators who worked tirelessly to produce this incredibly crafted film.”
“We worked on the Aang movie for years with the expectation that we’d get to celebrate all of our hard work in theaters…just to see people unceremoniously leak the film and pass our shots around on Twitter like candy,” animator Julia Schoel posted on X after the leak took place.
Arrested in Singapore
On Friday (April 24), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) issued a statement saying that a 26-year-old man had been arrested for suspected involvement in a case of unauthorised access to a media-content server. The SPF had received a report on April 16 that excerpts from a film that has not yet been released were being shared on social media. During the course of investigations, officers from the SPF’s Criminal Investigation Department had been able to determine the identity of the man who shared the clips.
He was arrested within a day of the report, and the Police seized a number of devices belonging to him. A copy of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender was recovered on his devices.
The investigators also showed that he had gained unauthorised remote access to the media-content server and downloaded the film. He is now being investigated for the offence of unauthorised access to computer material under the Computer Misuse Act. If he is found guilty, he faces up to a seven-year jail term, a fine of as much as S$50,000, or both. /TISG
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