The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American live-action/animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The film was co-written, directed, and produced by series creator Stephen Hillenburg, with live-action sequences directed by Mark Osborne. It features the series' cast of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass and Mr. Lawrence, with Alec Baldwin, David Hasselhoff (as himself), Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor portraying new characters. It is the first film in the SpongeBob SquarePants film series. In this film, Plankton devises a plan to discredit his business nemesis Mr. Krabs, steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and take over the world by stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs for the crime. SpongeBob and Patrick team up to retrieve the crown from Shell City to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and the oceanic world from Plankton's rule.

Hillenburg accepted Paramount Pictures's offer for a film adaptation of SpongeBob SquarePants in 2002, after having turned it down multiple times the previous year. He assembled a team from the show's writing staff, including Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne and Tim Hill, and they structured the film as a mythical hero's journey that would bring SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface. The film was originally intended to serve as the series finale, but Nickelodeon ordered more episodes of the series as it had become increasingly profitable, so Hillenburg resigned as showrunner, with Tibbitt taking his place.

The film was widely promoted by Paramount and Nickelodeon, with tie-in promotions made by 7-Eleven, the Cayman Islands and Burger King, which decorated various of its franchises with 9-foot (2.7 m) SpongeBob inflatable figures. The film was released on November 19, 2004, grossing $140 million worldwide, and received generally positive reviews from critics. A second film titled The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released on February 6, 2015, and another titled The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is scheduled for release on August 7, 2020.