USA in favor of a VOD release. In the meantime, it was released on Netflix globally, and kept an August release date in Canada.
Sponge on the Run is the third movie based on the popular Nickelodeon series, and the first to be made entirely in CGI, with the exception of some live-action celebrity cameos. The movie also spawned the idea for the first spinoff series in the franchise's history, with Kamp Koral, a CGI show based on Spongebob's youth at a summer camp. Starring the original voice cast, including Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Rodger Bum as Squidward, Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, Kamp Koral was originally set to air on Nickelodeon, but was held back for Paramount+, the streaming service launching in March in place of CBS All Access.
Now, Paramount has announced that both The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Sponge on the Run and the first six episodes of Kamp Koral will debut in the USA on Paramount+'s launch day, March 4. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Sponge on the Run will also be available on other Video-On-Demand services, like Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, and others for $19.99 from the same date. The other seven episodes of Kamp Koral season 1 are currently undated, but will be released on Paramount+ too. To celebrate the release date, Paramount has also released a new trailer for The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Sponge on the Run, which you can watch below:
The decision to release both Spongebob Squarepants properties on Paramount+ on launch day is a clear sign that the studio wants to grab the family market, placing it as a direct competitor to Disney+ in the USA. Whether they can make a dent in that market remains to be seen, as Disney+ has already racked up over 86 million subscribers in just over a year, and Paramount+ is launching into an increasingly saturated streaming market.
Still, it could do worse than launching with two properties based on one beloved franchise, and while neither The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run nor Kamp Koral look like they're bringing much new to the Spongebob universe, they do look like solid children's entertainment. And for those not willing to pay the monthly subscription fee, there are at least some VOD options for streaming the movie.
Source: Paramount
