The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is a 2020 American live-action/computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Directed by series developer and former series writer Tim Hill, who wrote the screenplay with Michael Kvamme from a story by Aaron Springer, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, it is the first film in the franchise to be fully animated in stylized CGI rather than traditional 2D animation. The regular voice cast of the series reprise their respective roles from the series and the previous films, and the plot follows the origin of how SpongeBob met Gary the Snail, and SpongeBob's quest to rescue him after he is kidnapped. It is the third theatrical film based on the series, following the first in 2004 and second in 2015.

The SpongeBob Movie:
Sponge on the Run
Canadian theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Hill
Produced byRyan Harris[1]
Screenplay by
  • Tim Hill
  • Michael Kvamme[2]
Story by
Based onSpongeBob SquarePants
by Stephen Hillenburg
Starring
Music byHans Zimmer
CinematographyLarry Fong[4]
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 14, 2020 (2020-08-14) (Canada)
  • 2021 (2021) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes[5]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[6]

The film was produced by Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies, and United Plankton Pictures, with animation provided by Mikros Image. Originally slated for a worldwide theatrical release by Paramount Pictures, plans were changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released theatrically in Canada on August 14, 2020, while it will have a premium video-on-demand and CBS All Access release in the United States in early 2021, and digitally on Netflix in other territories.

Premise

SpongeBob and Patrick embark on a rescue mission to save SpongeBob's pet snail Gary, who has been "snailnapped" by King Poseidon, traveling to the Lost City of Atlantic City. The movie will also reveal the origin of SpongeBob and Gary's meeting for the first time as children.

Cast
See also: List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters
Concept artwork of the characters' younger designs, introduced in the film's flashback sequence.

The series' regular voice cast is expected to reprise their roles.[7][8]

Additionally, Keanu Reeves,[13] Awkwafina,[1] and Tiffany Haddish[14] have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Production

Development

In a February 2015 interview discussing The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water's success at the box office, Megan Colligan, president of worldwide distribution and marketing at Paramount Pictures, stated the possibility of a third film was "a good bet."[15] In another interview, Paramount vice-chairman Rob Moore remarked, "Hopefully, it won't take 10 years to make another film," in reference to the time passed between The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and its 2015 sequel.[16] Later in 2015, it was revealed that Paramount was developing sequels to its franchises, including another SpongeBob film.[17]

The film was initially scheduled for release in 2019,[18][19] before being delayed to 2020.[20] By January 2016, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger had been hired to write the film.[21]

In March 2017, Paramount president Marc Evans announced that the studio would work closely with Viacom on its TV brands, including the SpongeBob film.[22] During the same month, Yahoo! Entertainment stated that the film would be titled The SpongeBob Movie.[23]

In April 2018, the film's official title was revealed as The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge, and SpongeBob co-developer Tim Hill was announced as director and writer for the film.[24][25] It was reported later in the year that the film would be written by Aibel, Berger, and Michael Kvamme.[26] The principal cast – Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Jill Talley, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan – are all expected to reprise the roles as their respective characters from the series and the previous films.[27] In October 2018, at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy, Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria revealed the plot for the film. The same day, Hans Zimmer was announced as the composer for the film, while Paris and Montreal-based Mikros Image would handle animation for the film, which would be created entirely through computer animation.[28]

On June 12, 2019, it was announced that Reggie Watts and Awkwafina were added to the cast while Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, who wrote a song for The SpongeBob Musical, would be writing original songs for the film. It was also announced that Mia Michaels would be choreographing and Ali Dee Theodore would add an original song for the film.[1] The next day, Snoop Dogg announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he would be in the film.[11]

On November 12, 2019, it was revealed that the film's title was changed from It's a Wonderful Sponge to Sponge on the Run, along with the casting of Keanu Reeves.[13]

Filming

On January 22, 2019, it was confirmed that production on the film had officially begun.[29] Like its predecessors, the film will include live-action sequences, with Larry Fong as the film's cinematographer.[4] Unlike the previous films, the animated sequences of the film will be entirely computer-animated.

Release

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on February 9, 2019 by Paramount Pictures.[19] It was then pushed back to August 2, 2019,[22] before being delayed nearly a year to July 31, 2020.[30] It was moved four more times: to July 17, 2020,[26] May 22, 2020,[2] July 31 (as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic),[31] and finally August 7, 2020.[32] In June 2020, it was announced that the film's theatrical release had been cancelled and it would instead be released through video on demand and CBS All Access in early 2021.[33]

In July 2020, Netflix acquired international distribution rights to the film, excluding the United States, Canada, and China.[34][35] On July 30, 2020, Paramount Pictures Canada announced the film would be released in Canadian theaters on August 14, 2020.[36]

Critical response

Writing for CTV News, Richard Crouse gave the 3.5 stars and wrote: "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run brings with it the usual anarchy, inside jokes and unexpected celebrity cameos, but at its little osmotic heart is SpongeBob, a character who belongs to the same genus of entertainers as Soupy Sales, Stan Laurel and Pee Wee Herman."[37] Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "I totally understand if the latest SpongeBob SquarePants movie spinoff will draw in longtime fans and new audiences brave enough to venture into a movie theatre this Friday... However, for me and my two kids (aged 10 and 8), this dive into the deep sea wasn't as thrilling an adventure as we'd hoped for."[38]

Television spin-off
Main article: Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years is a SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off prequel series, based on the flashback scene from The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, that introduces a 10-year-old SpongeBob at a summer sleepaway camp.[39][40][41][42]

On February 19, 2020, the official title was revealed, and it was announced that the series would be premiering in July 2020. The main series voice cast will be reprising their roles.[43]

On July 30, 2020, it was announced that the series would be released on CBS All Access, the ViacomCBS streaming service, in early 2021.[44][45]

gollark: Ah, the very extant Macron Text Editor.
gollark: (insect)
gollark: Seriously? Bee.
gollark: How many TFLOP/W?
gollark: You have an organic neural network processor? Fascinating. What's performance like?

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