SpongeBob SquarePants (film series)

SpongeBob SquarePants
Logotype for the 2015 film
Directed by	Stephen Hillenburg (1) Paul Tibbitt (2–3)
Produced by	See below
Written by	See below
Based on	SpongeBob SquarePants by Stephen Hillenburg
Starring	Tom Kenny Clancy Brown Rodger Bumpass Bill Fagerbakke Mr. Lawrence Jill Talley Carolyn Lawrence Mary Jo Catlett Lori Alan
Music by	See below
Production companies	Nickelodeon Movies United Plankton Pictures Paramount Animation (2–3)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	2004–present
Running time	180 minutes (1–2)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$104 million (both films)
Box office	$463.6 million (both films)

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated/live-action comedy film series based on the Nickelodeon animated television program of the same name, created by Stephen Hillenburg. It began in 2004 with the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The series is distributed and owned by Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom. All films feature the regular television voice cast: Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan. The first installment was directed by Hillenburg, and all subsequent films were directed by former showrunner Paul Tibbitt.

Plans for a film based on the series began in 2001, when Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures began approaching Stephen Hillenburg for a theatrical feature. He initially refused their offers, but began developing it in 2002 upon completion of the show's third season. The first movie was theatrically released in the United States on November 19, 2004 to critical and commercial success. It was originally planned to act as the series finale, but the franchise's success led to the production of more episodes. A stand-alone sequel followed in 2015 and a third film is slated to finish production in 2019.