'SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants' Everything To Know

Quickly after the 1999 premiere of SpongeBob SquarePants, the show became a massive hit for Nickelodeon. A few years later, SpongeBob, Patrick, and the rest made their big-screen debuts in 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. There have been a handful of film adaptations since then, and now the fourth is on the way: The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants.

Writing this script are Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman, a couple of kids movie veterans (Smurfs and Scoob!, respectively) with histories with films that aren’t quite in the same lane (Team America: World Police and Free Guy, respectively). So, it remains to be seen exactly what direction they’ll take SpongeBob in after 25 years on TV and in theaters.

Ahead of the movie’s release, keep reading for everything you need to know before it hits theaters.

Plot

An official description reads, “Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman — a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate — on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.”

Director Derek Drymon, who was been involved with SpongeBob since the beginning, told Collider of the film:

“I feel like this is a movie you come to where you really can laugh, and you can enjoy it. You can go with your family, go with your friends. What we stressed was just the fun and the silliness. It’s just a fun, kind of silly, dumb adventure. A lot of jokes. I’m hoping that people laugh all the way through it. There are big cinematic moments in it, which are nice. In the long form, you can do things that are bigger than you can do in a short. Still, we’re taking moments, taking time for SpongeBob and Patrick to do their silly stuff within this big adventure.”

Cast

The movie stars the usual voice cast: Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton. Joining them are Regina Hall, Sherry Cola, Arturo Castro, George Lopez, Ice Spice, and Mark Hamill.

Drymon said of working with Hamill:

“I was trying to be professional at all times with Mark, but it was definitely fun. I was probably in third grade when Star Wars came out, so I grew up a big Star Wars person. I’d worked with him once before on another show, so I had a little experience with him. But he is just the sweetest. He’s the nicest, sweetest guy, and super easy to work with. He just wants to know what you want, and then he can turn and become that villain.”