The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Box Office

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Box Office

Directed by	Stephen Hillenburg, Mark Osborne
Produced by	Stephen Hillenburg, Julia Pistor
Written by	Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Stephen Hillenburg, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt
Based on	SpongeBob SquarePants  by Stephen Hillenburg
Starring	Tom Kenny,  Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Mr. Lawrence,  Alec Baldwin, David Hasselhoff, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor
Narrated by	Tom Kenny
Music by	Gregor Narholz
Cinematography	Jerzy Zielinski
Edited by	Lynn Hobson
Production companies	Nickelodeon Movies United Plankton Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	November 14, 2004 (TCL Chinese Theatre)  November 19, 2004 (North America)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$140.2 million

  The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon television series, SpongeBob SquarePants. The SpongeBob SquarePants was directed by series creator Stephen Hillenburg, and stars the regular television cast of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, and Mr. Lawrence, with guest performances by Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor, Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff. The plot follows Plankton's plan to steal King Neptune's crown and send it to Shell City. SpongeBob and Patrick must retrieve the crown to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and their home (Bikini Bottom) from Plankton's plan.

Previous offers by Paramount Pictures to create a film version of SpongeBob were rejected by Hillenburg, but he eventually accepted one in 2002. When the film went into production, Hillenburg and the show's staff halted production on the series after the third season. A writing team—Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne and Tim Hill—was assembled, conceiving the idea of a mythical hero's quest: the search for a stolen crown, which would bring SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface. The film was originally intended as the series finale; however, Nickelodeon desired more episodes, so Paul Tibbitt assumed Hillenburg's position as showrunner to produced further episodes after the movie. During production, Jules Engel, Hillenburg's mentor at the California Institute of the Arts, died; the film was dedicated to his memory.

Tie-in promotions were made by 7-Eleven, the Cayman Islands and Burger King, which decorated some stores with 9-foot (2.7 m) SpongeBob inflatable figures. The film was a box-office success, grossing over $140 million, and received generally positive reviews from critics. A sequel titled The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released on February 6, 2015.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Box Office Plot:

The film follows the plot of the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, focusing on the anthropomorphic sea sponge of the same name (Tom Kenny). It begins with a live action sequence of a pirate crew awaiting its treasure: tickets to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. When they recover them, they sail to the movie theater and sit in front-row seats to watch the film. In the movie proper, SpongeBob dreams about managing the Krusty Krab restaurant. The restaurant is in trouble because a customer has no cheese on his Krabby Patty, but SpongeBob saves the day. He wakes up and cheerfully prepares for the opening ceremony for Krusty Krab 2, hoping that his boss Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) will promote him to manager of the new restaurant. At the ceremony, SpongeBob is passed over; his co-worker, Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass), is given the promotion because Mr. Krabs thinks he is "more mature" than SpongeBob.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Meanwhile, Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), Mr. Krabs' business rival, devises a plot to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and frame Mr. Krabs. He steals King Neptune's (Jeffrey Tambor) crown at night, sending it to Shell City. That night, SpongeBob goes to his favorite restaurant, Goofy Goober; he drowns his sorrows in ice cream with his best friend, Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke), waking up the next morning with a headache. King Neptune barges into Krusty Krab 2, assaults and freezes Krabs. When SpongeBob arrives later, although he criticizes Mr. Krabs, he promises Neptune he will retrieve the crown from Shell City. Neptune tells SpongeBob to return with the crown in six days for him to thaw Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob and Patrick leave for Shell City in a car shaped like a Krabby Patty.

In Bikini Bottom, Plankton steals the Krabby Patty formula, using it to produce and sell Krabby Patties at his restaurant, the Chum Bucket, with the claim that Krabs bequeathed him the recipe. He sends a hitman named Dennis (Alec Baldwin) to pursue SpongeBob and Patrick. Squidward discovers the truth about Plankton stealing Neptune's crown, and tries to alert Neptune. However, Plankton uses mind-controlling buckets disguised as souvenirs to control Bikini Bottom's residents, including Squidward, and renames the city Planktopolis.

Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Patrick encounter a dangerous trench, but Neptune's daughter Mindy (Scarlett Johansson) helps them past it. They are stopped by Dennis, who tries to kill them with his spiked boots, but is in turn stepped on by a massive "cyclops" (a diver). The "cyclops" grabs SpongeBob and Patrick, and goes to his store near the beach ("Shell City"). At the store, SpongeBob and Patrick find the crown, but are nearly killed and dehydrated in a lethal drying-out process with the heat lamp turned on. Their tears short-circuit the heat lamp; its smoke activates the sprinkler system, reviving them and the other dried sea creatures sold as souvenirs. As the sea creatures attack the diver, SpongeBob and Patrick take the crown and head for the beach. When they lose their way home, David Hasselhoff offers them a ride; Dennis catches up to them, but is knocked by a catamaran back into the sea.

Back at Krusty Krab 2, Neptune arrives to execute Mr. Krabs. Just in time, SpongeBob and Patrick return with the crown, save Mr. Krabs and confront Plankton. He drops a mind-control bucket on Neptune, enslaving him. SpongeBob plays "Goofy Goober Rock" and frees Bikini Bottom's residents. Plankton is arrested; King Neptune thanks SpongeBob for his bravery and thaws Mr. Krabs, who makes SpongeBob manager of the Krusty Krab 2 in gratitude. In a post-credits scene, a theater usher tells the captain and his pirate crew to leave and they reluctantly comply.