Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount have set 2025 theatrical release dates for a new
SpongeBob SquarePants movie and
Aang Avatar title.
The fourth SpongeBob big screen feature will debut in cinemas on May 23, 2025 while Aang Avatar will open on Oct. 10, 2025.
To date, the three SpongeBob movies, the first which kicked off in 2004, have grossed $470.9M WW. The last movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, due to theaters being closed around the world during the pandemic, received a theatrical release in Canada, but debuted on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Netflix internationally.
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+.
Avatar Aang is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon’s animated television series
Avatar: The Last Airbender. 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.
M. Night Shyamalan directed a 2010 live action movie based on the series which grossed close to $320M WW.
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).
Both movies are part of Nickelodeon's plan to expand both franchises.
SpongeBob currently has
four new movies - for for TV/streaming and the aforementioned theatrical - in the pipeline, whilst
Avatar has
three new films planned through the newly established studio
Avatar Studios.
There are no other major studio wide releases currently scheduled on either 2025 date.
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.
Stream all your favorite Nickelodeon shows old and new on Paramount+. Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!
Originally published: November 10, 2022 at 22:35 GMT.
