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 and written by series developer and former series writer Tim Hill, who co-wrote the story with Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger,[8][2] 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 film is dedicated to creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died in 2018, and also served as an executive producer on the project.

The SpongeBob Movie:
Sponge on the Run
Paramount+ release poster
Directed byTim Hill
Produced byRyan Harris[1][2]
Screenplay byTim Hill
Story by
Based onSpongeBob SquarePants
by Stephen Hillenburg
Starring
Music by
CinematographyPeter Lyons Collister
Edited byMichael W. Andrews[3]
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 14, 2020 (2020-08-14) (Canada)
  • March 4, 2021 (2021-03-04) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[5]
Box office$4.8 million[6][7]

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, and digitally on Netflix in other territories on November 5, 2020, while it will have a premium video-on-demand and CBS All Access release in the United States on March 4, 2021.

Plot

In Bikini Bottom, Plankton works on a new plan to steal the Krabby Patty formula until Karen argues that SpongeBob is the real responsible for all his previous failures and not Mr. Krabs. That same night, Plankton sneaks into the Krusty Krab and scans a Krabby Patty to print the formula but SpongeBob, inadvertently, causes Plankton to fall into a deep fryer and lose the formula while the latter was searching for his keys. This leads Plankton to understand that Karen was right in her suspicions.

Meanwhile, in Atlantic City, selfish ruler King Poseidon has just used up all the slime from his latest sea snail, which is necessary to keep him rejuvenated. Since sea snails are almost extinct, Poseidon decrees the obtaining of a new snail. Plankton finds out about this and kidnaps SpongeBob's pet snail Gary so that SpongeBob will go to find him and thus not interfere with Plankton's plans. The next morning, SpongeBob learns from Patrick that Gary was taken to Atlantic City. However, Plankton offers Otto, a robot built by Sandy, to take them to the city. Without SpongeBob cooking Krabby Patties, the Krusty Krab's enraged customers destroy the restaurant despite Mr. Krabs and Squidward's efforts to stop them. Otto drives SpongeBob and Patrick to an old Western town where they meet a tumbleweed spirit named Sage.

Sage reveals that they are in a dream and must overcome a special mission to continue their search. He gives them a "Challenge Coin" that will embrave them into a tavern haunted by ghostly zombie pirates. Following a small musical number with Snoop Dogg, SpongeBob and Patrick discover that the pirates' souls are trapped by an evil spirit known as "El Diablo" and their mission is to free them. El Diablo traps them in his office but they accidentally disintegrate him with the sunlight by uncovering some window curtains. The pirates' souls are freed and SpongeBob and Patrick continue on their travel until Otto wakes them up, thus revealing that everything was a dream.

Now accompanied by Sage, SpongeBob discovers that Poseidon is using Gary's slime to stay young and as soon as it runs out, he will have him enslaved with the rest of his previous dried snails. Arriving at Atlantic City, Sage warns the pair not to be distracted by the city's attractions, which they ignore. After a fun-filled night, SpongeBob and Patrick discover that they have lost the "Challenge Coin" that allowed them to be brave, but they still reach into Poseidon's palace. When they try to take Gary away, both are arrested. Back in Bikini Bottom, Plankton arrives at the Krusty Krab and a depressed Mr. Krabs gives him the formula because nothing is the same without SpongeBob. Finding out that SpongeBob and Patrick will be executed in a luxury show, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Sandy and a redeemed Plankton decide to go find and save them.

In prison, Sage reveals to SpongeBob and Patrick that the "Challenge Coin" never had powers and that the bravery came from themselves. When SpongeBob is about to be executed because Patrick had made a deal with Poseidon's Chancellor to save himself, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Plankton and Sandy burst into the show to testify in favor of SpongeBob. Along with Patrick, each recounts an experience they had in their childhood with SpongeBob when they were at a summer camp, earning the audience's gratitude. Afterwards, the group perform a musical number to distract Poseidon and taking Gary away. Poseidon realizes the distraction and orders his guards to capture the group. SpongeBob and his friends manage to sneak around the palace to the exit, but are once again cornered when Otto forgets to pick them up.

Poseidon confronts them but gleefully orders the charges dropped for amusing him. However, he also does it on the condition that SpongeBob gives Gary and never come back for him. Remembering Sage's words, SpongeBob gains courage and refuses, arguing that his friends went out of their way to help him in the rescue. When Poseidon finds out that he has no friends, reveals that he needs the slime for his appearance, SpongeBob offers to be his friend and tells him that beauty is on the inside and that he doesn't need to hide it. This causes Poseidon to remove all his arrangements and returns to his true appearance. Everyone accepts him for who he is and Poseidon lets SpongeBob stay with Gary.

Otto drives the group back home while Poseidon releases all his enslaved snails to accompany them and Bikini Bottom ends up becoming a "sea snail refuge".

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 reprised their roles for the film.[9][10]

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."[18] 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.[19] Later in 2015, it was revealed that Paramount was developing sequels to its franchises, including another SpongeBob film.[20]

The film was initially scheduled for release in 2019,[21][22] before being delayed to 2020.[23] By January 2016, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger had been hired to write the film.[24]

In March 2017, Paramount president Marc Evans announced that the studio would work closely with Viacom on its TV brands, including the SpongeBob film.[25] During the same month, Yahoo! Entertainment stated that the film would be titled The SpongeBob Movie.[26]

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.[27][28] It was reported later in the year that the film would be written by Aibel, Berger, and Michael Kvamme.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

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.[14]

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.[32] Like its predecessors, the film will include live-action sequences, and unlike the previous films, the animated sequences of the film are entirely computer-animated. Larry Fong was initially reported to serve as the film's cinematographer,[33] but due to unknown reasons Peter Lyons Collister ended up solely with the credit.

Release

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on February 9, 2019, by Paramount Pictures.[22] It was then pushed back to August 2, 2019,[25] before being delayed nearly a year to July 31, 2020.[34] It was moved four more times: to July 17, 2020,[29] May 22, 2020,[35] July 31 (as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic),[36] and finally August 7, 2020.[37] 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.[38] In December 2020, it was revealed that the film will be releasing in February 2021.[39] On January 28, 2021, it was announced that the film would release on March 4, 2021, the same day of the Paramount+ rebranding.[40]

In July 2020, Netflix acquired international distribution rights to the film, excluding the United States, Canada, and China.[41][5] On July 30, 2020, Paramount Pictures Canada announced that the film would be released in Canadian theaters on August 14, 2020.[42] Between the Netflix and CBS All Access deals, Paramount recouped the entire production cost of the film.[5] The film was released internationally on Netflix on November 5, 2020.[43]

Reception

Box office

In the film's debut Canadian weekend, it grossed $865,824 from 300 theaters. Since Canada's grosses are factored into American totals, Sponge on the Run finished first at the box office, and had the highest weekend total for a film since the start of the pandemic.[44] IndieWire estimated that had the film had a traditional North American theatrical release it would have opened to $25–30 million, including a $3 million total from Canada.[45] In its second weekend, despite being added to an additional 26 theaters, the film dropped 36% to $550,000, finishing second behind Unhinged.[46] In its third weekend the film made $400,000 from 314 theaters,[47] then $345,000 in its fourth weekend, for a month-long running total of $3.6 million.[48]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 14 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[49]

Writing for CTV News, Richard Crouse gave the film 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."[50] 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."[51]

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.[52][53][54][55]

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.[56]

On July 30, 2020, it was announced that the series would be released on CBS All Access, the ViacomCBS streaming service, in early 2021.[57][58] On January 28, 2021, it was announced that the first six episodes of the series would release on March 4, 2021.[40]

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