The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water


The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is a 2015 American animated adventure comedy film based on the television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It is the second theatrical film based on the series. Directed by series veteran Paul Tibbitt, the film stars the show's regular voice cast alongside Antonio Banderas in a live-action role, and Matt Berry as a new character. The plot follows Burger Beard, a pirate who steals the Krabby Patty secret formula using a magical book that makes any text written upon it come true, leading SpongeBob and his friends to travel to the ocean's surface to confront Burger Beard and retrieve the formula.
The film was written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, adapted from a story by Tibbitt and SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg. As with the first film, the final act places the animated characters in a live-action world. These scenes were directed by Mike Mitchell and were filmed in Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. Filming began in September 2013, and was completed in November that year. The film is dedicated to Ernest Borgnine, the voice of Mermaid Man, who died in 2012. It also features the final film role of Tim Conway, the voice of Barnacle Boy, who died in 2019.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released in the United States on February 6, 2015, by Paramount Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and was a box office success, earning $325 million against its $74 million budget, and becoming the highest-grossing film in the series. A third film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, was released in 2020, and a fourth, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, was released in 2025.

Plot

A pirate named Burger Beard travels to Bikini Atoll, where he obtains a magical book that can make any text written upon it real. The book tells the story of SpongeBob SquarePants and his adventures in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob works for Mr. Krabs at the Krusty Krab fast food restaurant, where he cooks Krabby Patties. SpongeBob has spent several years protecting the secret formula of the Krabby Patty from Plankton, the owner of the rival Chum Bucket.
One day, Plankton attacks the Krusty Krab to steal the formula. After a battle involving giant foods and condiments, Plankton feigns surrender and uses a decoy of himself to gain access to Krabs' vault. Plankton steals the formula, leaving a fake document in its place. SpongeBob catches Plankton and they fight over the formula, which abruptly disappears.
Without the secret formula, Krabby Patties can't be made, leaving customers ravenous. While Mr. Krabs suspects Plankton, SpongeBob knows he's innocent; they escape in a soap bubble. Bikini Bottom turns into a wasteland without Krabby Patties. A book page from a struggle between Burger Beard and seagulls lands on Sandy Cheeks' tree dome. SpongeBob suggests teaming up with Plankton to find the formula, and they decide to time travel just before it vanished. They build a machine and travel to the future, meeting Bubbles, a magical dolphin overseeing the galaxy, but they accidentally get him fired when Jupiter and Saturn collide. After escaping Bubbles, they retrieve the formula from the past, only to find it's a fake Plankton left earlier.
Sandy suggests a sacrifice to the "sandwich gods" for Krabby Patties, and SpongeBob volunteers. As the town tries, SpongeBob mentions he smells Krabby Patties, which Mr. Krabs also detects. The townsfolk follow the scent to the surface, and Bubbles returns, expressing his disdain for his job and gratitude to be fired. He thanks SpongeBob by allowing him and his friends to breathe on land to follow the smell.
The team lands on a beach and discovers that the smell leads to Burger Beard's ship, which he has converted into a food truck. Burger Beard is revealed to have stolen the formula using the magical book, which he then uses to banish the group to an island full of pelicans. SpongeBob uses the page Sandy had to transform himself and the others into superheroes. They return and find Burger Beard, who drives away with the formula, and give chase. The team destroys the book during the ensuing battle, but Burger Beard manages to overpower them.
Plankton, who has become a muscle-bound hero, attacks Burger Beard. With SpongeBob's help, they reclaim the formula and send Burger Beard flying to Bikini Atoll. Using the final page's magic, the gang returns to Bikini Bottom. With the Krabby Patties back, the city returns to normal, and Plankton resumes his business rivalry.

Cast

In addition to playing some of the seagulls, Shukoff and Ahlquist also appear as two of Burger Beard's customers.
In a sequence deleted from the theatrical release, Slash makes a cameo appearance as a busker. His scene is briefly featured in a trailer, and is included among the special features for the Blu-ray release of the film.

Production

Development

Following the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004, producer Julia Pistor stated that a sequel film was unlikely despite its successful box office performance. In a 2009 interview with Digital Spy, former SpongeBob SquarePants writer and executive producer Paul Tibbitt was asked about the possibility of a sequel; he said, "I think that they are talking about doing that, but I haven't signed up for anything. We just feel like we've told so many stories, and SpongeBob exists so well in this short 11-minute form." He also stated that making another film was "a huge challenge". However, Tibbitt said a sequel is not impossible, saying "I wouldn't say no, but I don't know if there will be another one". In 2010, Nickelodeon was reportedly approaching the crews of the show to make another film adaptation. The network had long wanted to partner with sister company Paramount Pictures to release another SpongeBob SquarePants film to help reinvigorate the series' declining ratings. Internal disagreement delayed collaborations.
On March 4, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported Paramount had "another SpongeBob picture" in development. In July the same year, Paramount formed its new animation unit, Paramount Animation, in the wake of the commercial and critical success of the 2011 animated film Rango and the end of the studio's distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation. Philippe Dauman, Viacom's then-president and CEO, officially announced on February 28, 2012, that a sequel film was in development and was due for an unspecified 2014 release. Dauman said the new film "will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort". Nickelodeon expected the film to do much better in foreign box offices than the 2004 feature considering the channel's increasingly global reach.
Production was announced on June 10, 2012, under the title The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2, which some trade publications began referring to as SpongeBob SquarePants 2. Series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who left his role as the series' showrunner in 2004 following the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, would return as the film's executive producer and function as a co-writer for the film's story.

Casting

The main cast of the television series reprised their roles for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. In August 2013, casting directors from Marty Siu Casting began casting calls for the background extras for the live-action scenes. On September 21, 2013, it was reported that Spanish actor Antonio Banderas had been cast for a live-action role as Burger Beard the pirate.

Animation

The 2D hand-drawn animated sequences for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water were done in South Korea by Rough Draft Studios Korea. As did its predecessor, the film combines traditional animation with live action, and also used computer-generated imagery, which was handled by Iloura VFX in Melbourne, Australia, to render the characters in 3D.
In a 2012 preview of upcoming Paramount films, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was exhibited as a "3D feature film" with "CGI-like animation". Following the release of SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D: The Great Jelly Rescue, a 3D short film that was released at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort Orlando, executives talked about continuing the use of 3D in the film.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water contains a stop-motion sequence that was animated by Screen Novelties; the company had previously produced a clay animation scene for the first SpongeBob SquarePants film, the mixed-media opening of the television episode "Truth or Square", and the entirety of the stop-motion special It's a SpongeBob Christmas!.
In March 2014, Paramount screened live-action footage from the film during the National Association of Theatre Owners' event CinemaCon. News websites report that the film would be CGI-animated; an Internet Movie Database staff member commented; "When Paramount announced there would be a new SpongeBob SquarePants movie, the assumption was that it would be animated. The very brief footage from tonight's presentation suggested otherwise – it looked as though this was a CGI/live-action hybrid akin to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, etc." In an article published by ComingSoon.net, author Edward Douglas said the film's CGI footage looks "weird". Philippe Dauman said the CGI elements are intended to "refresh and give another boost" to the characters.