A Singapore man has been arrested for allegedly obtaining The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender without authorization and leaking it online.
According to Singapore's The Strait Times publication, local police revealed in. a statement that they’d seized electronic devices, which included a digital copy of the film.
According to the police’s report, the man gained unauthorized access to a media server remotely, downloaded the film, and shared it widely online.
If found guilty, the 26-year-old suspect is facing a maximum of seven years in prison and/or a potential fine of up to $50,000 for unauthorized access to computer material.
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender leaked on X earlier this month when the entirety of the film was posted for everyone to see. Paramount investigated the leak after it happened and discovered that it hadn’t come from within the studio.
Flying Bark Productions, the Australian company that animated the film, released a statement confirming it had nothing to do with the leaks either. "It was heartbreaking to see footage from The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender leak online," the statement read at the time. "This leak did not originate from Flying Bark."
"Our studio proudly partnered on the production until the very end, and we acknowledge the filmmakers, casts, artists, and animators who worked tirelessly to produce this incredibly crafted film," the statement concluded.
When the leak happened, animator Julia Schoel expressed her disappointment with a statement on X. "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," she wrote.
After initially being announced to appear in theaters, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender has been revealed to be released on Paramount+ on October 9.
