Nickelodeon Movies And Paramount Pictures Announce Plans To Make A "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" Sequel; Planned To Be Released In Late 2014

According to this Nickelodeon Movies news article on The Hollywood Reporter, Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures have announced plans to make a brand new "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie, which is expected to be released in movie theater's in the USA in late (Fall (Autumn)/Winter) 2014, approximately ten years after the North American theatrical release of the first "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie, called "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", which was released in movie theater's across the USA in 2004:

Paramount to Release 'SpongeBob' Movie in Late 2014

Courtesy of Nickelodeon - "SpongeBob SquarePants"
UPDATED: Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman tells a Deutsche Bank investor conference that the film "will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort."

NEW YORK - Viacom's Paramount Pictures will release a SpongeBob SquarePants movie in late 2014 as it looks to kick its animation output into a higher gear, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said Tuesday.

"We will be releasing a SpongeBob movie at the end of 2014, which will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort," he told a Deutsche Bank media and telecom investor conference in Palm Beach, Fla. His appearance was webcast.

Paramount announced the formation of its new animation unit last July with a target of one release starting in 2014. It has previously not mentioned a specific project. However, Paramount picked up rights to Penny Arcade's science fiction comic New Kid in June and is planning an adaptation of it. The studio tapped The Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta to pen the script and Mary Parent and Cale Boyter are producing via their Paramount-based Disruption Entertainment.

Paramount has distributed animation fare from Jeffrey Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation, but that deal is coming to an end at the close of this year. Dauman has repeatedly said that his company's studio would be fine without DWA, which has also weighed its options, including self-distributing its movies. But Dauman has not directly ruled out a potential renewal of the DWA deal.

Viacom released a SpongeBob film several years ago, but back then, Nickelodeon did not have as much of a presence around the world, Dauman said Tuesday in touting the outlook for the new feature.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie hit the silver screen late in 2004 and grossed $85.4 million domestically and $54.7 million abroad, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. The film saw SpongeBob take leave from the town of Bikini Bottom to track down King Neptune's stolen crown.

Paramount did not provide additional deals on the new SpongeBob film.

Dauman also once again said that the Paramount animation productions will be a new opportunity for his company as they will each cost less than $100 million, and the animation unit will be only 30 to 40 people strong, allowing for good financial returns. Thanks to modern technology, the films still look "great" despite the lower cost, he said. He also lauded his studio team for winning an animation Oscar for Rango, the studio's first fully-owned CGI effort. "We're very proud of that," he said.

David Stainton, the head of Paramount's animation effort, resigned abruptly earlier in February. That has left Paramount Motion Picture Group president Adam Goodman in charge.

Also, from Cinema Blend:

SpongeBob SquarePants Coming Back To Theaters In 2014

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman revealed today that Paramount Pictures hopes to ramp up its animation output, and will kick things off with a new SpongeBob SquarePants movie in 2014.

According to THR, Dauman was speaking before a Deutsche Bank investor conference in New York, where he announced that the studio’s new animation unit, which launched last July, would produce one animated movie a year. This process comes as Paramount's deal to distribute DreamWorks Animation's features is coming to a close.

Paramount put out The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004, and it went on to earn $140.1M worldwide. But Dauman told the gathered crowd that Nickelodeon has a stronger presence around the globe than it did back then. He did not have any additional information on the plot of a SquarePants movie, but the creators have more than enough time to put it together.

In addition to SpongeBob, THR says that Paramount could develop an animated feature around Penny Arcade's science fiction comic New Kid, which they acquired the rights to in June. As of right now, they have hired Gary Whitte (The Book of Eli) to write a script, while Mary Parent and Cale Boyter plan to produce through their Paramount-based Disruption Entertainment.

My kids don’t watch a lot of SpongeBob, so I’m not certain the show's more popular today than it was in 2004. Maybe by 2014, 10 years after the first movie, the idea of SpongeBob will be so retro that it's cool again. We'll see what happens.

Scenes From Nickelodeon's "Nickelodeon Upfront 2012" Presentation

From Blog.Viacom, the official blog of Viacom Inc., who is the parent company of the Nickelodeon brand:

Scenes from the Nickelodeon Upfront

With more than 650 new episodes across every genre in the pipeline, Nickelodeon was most definitely not lacking for variety in its annual upfront presentation Wednesday in New York.

Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami took the stage at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall to unveil a host of upcoming programming and projects across television and film, live-action and animation, on-air and digital – all part of the network’s master plan to cement its leadership with kids. In addition to announcing new episodes of hits SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly, VicTorious and other returning series, Nickelodeon treated the packed house to performances and sneak peeks at all-new shows.

Below is a photo tour of just a few of the highlights...

Big Time Rush opened the evening with a performance of “Music Sounds Better With U” before welcoming the crowd and recounting its whirlwind rise to massive popularity on Nickelodeon. “We've performed for over hundreds of thousands fans around the world, including opening for Justin Bieber in Mexico. And the other night, we played to a sold-out crowd at Radio City Music Hall for the first time,” said Rusher Carlos Pena, Jr. His bandmate Logan Henderson looked genuinely stunned to recall that Big Time Rush’s first live performance ever was only two years ago at the Nickelodeon Upfront. The group will embark on a 50-city U.S. tour of its own this summer. Big Time Rush also talked its Big Time Movie – a reimagining of The Beatles' Hard Day's Night – which pulled in 13 million total viewers over in its debut over the course of last weekend.

UK sensation One Direction followed touting a debut album, Up All Night, sitting atop the U.S. iTunes chart and generating tremendous buzz among the tween set (an MTV marketing exec we sat next to said t her 14-year-old daughter to tears at the band’s recent Radio City gig opening for Big Time Rush). Sort of The Stones to Big Time's Beatles (with apologies to Mick and Keith), One Direction recently appeared on an episode of iCarly and will perform at the upcoming Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 31st.

The telenovela format has borne fruit for Viacom networks across the globe – most notably in Latin America with Nickelodeon's Grachi and MTV's Niñas Mal – and Nickelodeon continues its expansion of the format in the U.S. with the upcoming Hollywood Heights, debuting on Nick at Nite in June. Nickelodeon introduced the cast (above) during the presentation, which includes Brittany Underwood, Melissa Ordway, Cody Anthony Logan and Justin Wilczynski. Also, awesomely, the show has signed James Franco for a four-episode arc.

After an earth-rattling sizzle reel of his greatest hits – from The Rock to Pearl Harbor to the Transformers trilogy – Michael Bay gave the crowd a first look at the previsualization – filmmaker speak for a 3D, digitally animated storyboard – for Ninja Turtles, Paramount Pictures’ live-action reinvention of the franchise set to hit theaters next year. “We want this film to have the impact of a Transformers one,” said Bay. If the stunning previs is any indication, Bay is making good progress against that lofty goal in his role as producer. Another tidbit he offered up is that the Turtles origin story has been updated, from the decidedly 80s radioactive waste accident to an alien planet. The “teenage mutant” remains intact, however, for the brand-new CG-animated TMNT series debuting on Nickelodeon this fall – good news for those of us who grew up in a time when the names Leonardo and Donatello were more closely associated with pizza and kung fu than art.

Nick Cannon, who counts Chairman of TeenNick among the many hats he wears, brought stars Keke Palmer and Max Schneider on stage to preview Rags, a modern-day, gender-reversed TV movie take on the Cinderella fairy tale. Cannon got nods of approval from the crowd when he invoked the Michael Jackson/Diana Ross musical The Wiz as his inspiration for the new project.

14-year-old Rachel Crow of X Factor fame closed the show with a G-rated version of Cee Lo Green's "Forget You." Nickelodeon is developing a show for Crow that will no doubt make good use of her preternatural pipes.

Tags:

Big Time Rush, Hollywood Heights, Keke Palmer, Max Schneider, Michael Bay, Nick Cannon, One Direction, Rags, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Upfront

You can find high resolution Nickelodeon photographs of the Nickelodeon images above on the original Blog.Viacom blog post here on Blog.Viacom.com.

Nickelodeon USA Confirms Plans To Premier The New Nickelodeon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Series In Fall 2012

As part of Nickelodeon's recent annual upfront presentation, Nickelodeon Upfront 2012, Nickelodeon announced and confirmed that Nickelodeon USA will premiere Nickelodeon's brand new CGI-animated (animated using computer-generated imagery) "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series during Fall 2012 (Autumn 2012) as part of Nickelodeon USA's 2012-2013 season. Nickelodeon's Upfront 2012 presentation also featured an exclusive look at a previsualization (3D storyboard) of Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Pictures' highly anticipated live-action "Ninja Turtles" feature film, which was presented by producer Michael Bay. While speaking at the 2012 Nickelodeon Upfront on March 14, 2012, Michael Bay revealed that the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie will be called "Ninja Turtles", and will be a reboot of the of the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" storyline, which will include the 'Ninja Turtles' no longer being mutants, but instead be members of an alien race. The brand new Nickelodeon Movie "Ninja Turtles" is expected to be released in movie theater's in the USA during December 2013/Christmas 2013:

The evening [Nickelodeon Upfront 2012] also featured an exclusive look at a previsualization (3D storyboard) of Paramount Pictures' highly anticipated live-action Ninja Turtles feature, presented by producer Michael Bay. The feature film will bow in 2013, following this year's fall TV premiere of the brand-new CG-animated TMNT series on Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon USA has still to confirm whether or not Nickelodeon USA will still be giving TMNT fans a sneak peek of Nickelodeon's brand new CGI-animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series on Saturday 31st March 2012, possibly just after Nickelodeon USA holds the "Nickelodeon 2012 Kids' Choice Awards" on the same night.

836 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fans Invade Nickelodeon Universe to Break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Largest Gathering Of Ninja Turtles

Below is a Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America Press Release from PRNewswire:

836 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fans Invade Nickelodeon Universe to Break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Largest Gathering of Ninja Turtles

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., March 17, 2012 /Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America Press Release via PRNewswire/ -- Fans dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles united in Mall of America to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS largest gathering of ninja turtles and celebrate the grand opening of the newest thrill ride at Nickelodeon Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock, the first ever ride of its kind in the United States. Fans from across the nation traveled to Mall of America to shatter the previous record of 786 with 836 fans dressed as ninja turtles. The Mall welcomed guests with commemorative Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirts, face masks and free passes to check out the ride.


(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120317/CG72091 )

"The passion of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans blew this record out of the water with 836 fans dressed as ninja turtles," said Michael Empric, adjudicator with Guinness World Records.

"We're astounded by the number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans that showed up today to celebrate the grand opening of the new ride," says Jennifer Lauerman, Nickelodeon Universe marketing director. "You can feel the adrenaline and excitement in the air from the guests and fans, it's a great feeling."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock takes riders 70 feet in the air in a matter of seconds reaching up to 25 mph. With 12 single bucket seats at the end of a cantilevered arm that rotates around a central tower, this ride is a thrill-seekers dream. Each guest controls their seat which can rotate wildly like a plane propeller or a gentle teeter-totter like a see-saw making no two ride experiences the same. The attraction is based on the highly-anticipated all-new CG-animated television series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which will premiere on Nickelodeon later this year.

A second new attraction to Nickelodeon Universe, Dutchman's Deck Anchor drop stainless steel spiral tube slide system also opened this month. These two intertwining tubes offer quite the thrill for guests from 56 and 35 ft. in the air. One leaves from the third level while the other one leaves from the top of the Flying Dutchman Ghostly Gangplank Adventure Ropes Course. The attraction is based on the Flying Dutchman character from Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants — the number one animated series with kids for the last 12 consecutive years. Admission to the slides will be included in Ropes Course admission or can be purchased for $2 per person with a wristband purchase or $3 per person without a wristband purchase.

For more information on the new ride visit www.mallofamerica.com or www.nickelodeonuniverse.com.

About Mall of America

Mall of America is the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex. At 4.2 million square feet, MOA is home to more than 520 world-class shops; Nickelodeon Universe, the nation's largest indoor family amusement park; SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium, a 1.2 million gallon walk-through aquarium; Moose Mountain Adventure Golf; Theatres at Mall of America - a 14-screen movie theater with VIP theatre and more. The Mall opened in August of 1992 and is located in Bloomington, Minn., just minutes from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. Follow Mall of America on Facebook and Twitter or visit our blog.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Mall of America

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http://www.mallofamerica.com

Nickelodeon Universe (originally Knott's Camp Snoopy, and later known as The Park at MOA) is the seven-acre (28,000 m²) Nickelodeon themed indoor amusement park located in the center of the Mall of America (MOA), in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA in 2008.