Are ya ready, kids? Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation have set theatrical release dates for the big screen return of the Bikini Bottom game in a new SpongeBob SquarePants title, as well as the eagerly awaited kick off for the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender film trilogy, from Avatar Studios.
The fourth SpongeBob movie will open on May 23, 2025. The last feature adventure starring SpongeBob, Patrick and co., The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was stymied by the global COVID-19 pandemic, opening in theaters in Canada in 2020 but releasing for Paramount+ streaming in the U.S. in 2021.
While it only pulled $4.8 million in global box office, Sponge on the Run did score Canada’s highest opening of the pandemic when it released, and performed in the top five of VOD rental charts for FandangoNOW, Google Play and Apple TV. All three films have grossed $470M+ in total worldwide, led by Sponge Out of Water (2015) with $325M+.
The first of three planned Avatar: The Last Airbender movies will arrive on October 10, 2025. As revealed during a Comic-Con panel, the animated feature will focus on Avatar Aang and his friends. Lauren Montgomery (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender) is attached to direct.
Series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino are producing alongside Eric Coleman (Avatar: The Last Airbender, SpongeBob SquarePants) are producing. Latifa Ouaou, EVP of Movies and Global Franchises for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, is overseeing development alongside Jason McConnell, VP of Animation, Nickelodeon Animation & Paramount Animation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon in 2005 and ran for three critically acclaimed seasons, winning honors from the Annie Awards, Kids’ Choice Awards, a Peabody Award, an Emmy Individual Achievement recognition and nomination for Outstanding Animated Program. The series spawned a spinoff, The Legend of Korra, as well as a live-action movie from M. Night Shyamalan in 2010. Despite being the lowest-rated film produced by Nickelodeon Movies on Rotten Tomatoes (5%), The Last Airbender earned enough box office to land as the studio’s fourth highest-grossing film ($319.7M worldwide).
Nickelodeon/Paramount’s upcoming feature slate also includes Blue’s Big City Adventure (Nov. 18, Paramount+), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Aug. 4, 2023), PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Oct. 13, 2023), the untitled Smurfs musical (Feb. 14, 2025), two untitled SpongeBob spinoffs (2023 / TBA, Paramount+) and more in development, such as Saving Bikini Bottom directed by Liza Johnson and Leo Matsuda’s Yokai Samba.
[Source: Deadline]
