by Keith Davidsen, Source: Bleeding Cool.com
How is Spongebob Squarepants doing these days? I still feel fondly towards the little… square… sponge… but I certainly haven’t seen his show in some time. The last time I met an actual, professed fan of the show was a good number of years ago, and I think that young man has probably doubled his age since then, which is to say, I’d expect he’s now about nine years old.
But the signs are that Spongebob is still a draw as Paramount (a Viacom subsidiary, it will soon become relevant to know) are planning to put him at the forefront of their new animated movie drive. THR have this quote from Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman:
“We will be releasing a Spongebob movie at the end of 2014, which will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort.”
That will be the tenth anniversary of the first Spongebob picture hitting the screens – an almost Muppet-sized hiatus.
It’s a good time for this announcement from Viacom: this year’s Oscar winner for Best Animated Film was Rango, a Paramount Picture. Their own efforts are instantly credible, from film one.
The studio has been responsible for distributing Dreamworks toons, but that deal is likely coming to an end soon, hence this new endeavour.
Other toons in the Paramount pipeline include an adaptation of the New Kid strip from Penny Arcade. Expect plenty more announcements soon.
