Nickelodeon Movies

**Nickelodeon Movies** is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California.

The division has earned numerous accolades including 2 Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, over 13 Saturn Awards nominations and 4 in-house honors via the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Since its launch, and over 40 feature films have been produced for broadcast on Nickelodeon's global channels and Paramount+.

## History

### 1990s

In 1993, Nickelodeon began working with Paramount Pictures to produce new material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based on *The Ren & Stimpy Show*, *Rugrats* and *Doug*. Nickelodeon also announced plans to make a film based on Sega's *Sonic the Hedgehog* video game series called *Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World*. Due to the creative differences with John Kricfalusi, the creator of *Ren & Stimpy* and an inability to market that property in a family-friendly manner instead of a "cynical and gross humor" scuttled the film. However, Paramount and Viacom would go forward and start development on *The Rugrats Movie* and the *Doug* film a year after the acquisition.

Nickelodeon Movies was founded on February 24, 1994. on June 30, 1995, the studio released its first film, *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie*, a superhero film based on Fox Kids' *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers*. It received mixed critical reception, but despite this, the movie became a box office success, earning $66.4 million against a $15 million budget, making it a financial success. The success of the film led to a sequel.

On July 10, 1996, the studio released its second film, *Harriet the Spy*, a spy-comedy film based on the 1964 novel of the same name.

On March 28, 1997, the studio then released *Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie*, it was a sequel to *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie* and released to generally unfavorable reviews and grossed a worldwide total of $9.6 million.

On July 25, 1997, the studio then released its fourth film, *Good Burger*, a comedy film, starring Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Abe Vigoda, Dan Schneider, Shar Jackson, Josh Server, Lori Beth Denberg, Jan Schweiterman, Linda Cardellini and Sinbad. It was based on the *Good Burger* sketch on Nickelodeon's popular sketch comedy series *All That*.

On November 20, 1998, the studio released *The Rugrats Movie*, which is Nickelodeon Movies' first animated film and the first Nicktoon to be shown in theaters. It received mixed critical reception, but despite this, the movie became a box office success, earning $100,494,675 in the domestic box office and $140,894,675 worldwide. It also became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million domestically. The success of the film led to two sequels.

On March 26, 1999, the studios released *Doug's 1st Movie*, starring the show's original cast members such as, Tom McHugh, Fred Newman, Chris Phillips, Constance Shulman, Frank Welker and Alice Playten (this would be her final role in an animated movie before her death in 2011). It received mixed critical reception and grossed $19.4 million worldwide on a $5 million (Which was because of it being originally planned to be a direct-to-video film), creating a large profit for Paramount and making it a box office success.

### 2000s

On February 11, 2000, the studio released *Snow Day*, a comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Chris Elliott, Zena Grey, Josh Peck, Mark Webber, Schuyler Fisk, Jade Yorker and Emmanuelle Chriqui. This film met negative reviews, yet it grossed $62,464,731 worldwide.

Nine months later, the studio released *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie* on November 17, 2000. It is the first sequel to *The Rugrats Movie*, and grossed $76,507,756 at the domestic box-office and $103,291,131 worldwide. The film received favorable reviews, becoming the most critically acclaimed *Rugrats* film to date.

On December 21, 2001, the studio released its first CGI animated film, *Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*. It is based on a series of shorts that aired on Nickelodeon in 1998. It became a critical and box-office success, earning $80,936,232 in the United States and $102,992,536 worldwide. It stars voice actors Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, Carolyn Lawrence, Jeffrey Garcia, and Candi Milo, and co-starred Martin Short and Patrick Stewart. On March 24, 2002, this movie was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to *Shrek*. It is the first Nickelodeon film to be nominated for an Academy Award. The success of the film spawned this film into a TV series, *The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2002 to 2006.

On March 29, 2002, the studio released *Clockstoppers*, a sci-fi action film, starring Jesse Bradford, Paula Garcés, and French Stewart. This film received negative reviews and was a box office disappointment, only earning $36,989,956 in the United States and $38,793,283 worldwide.

On June 28, 2002, Nickelodeon Movies released *Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie*, starring the series' original cast members. The film received negative reviews and grossed $15.2 million. The Movie expands on the two-part episode "The Journal", including the whereabouts of Arnold's missing parents. It was the first animated film from Nickelodeon to get a PG rating.

In 2002 and 2003, the studio, along with Klasky Csupo, released two films based on popular TV shows, *The Wild Thornberrys Movie* and *Rugrats Go Wild*, respectively. *The Wild Thornberrys Movie* was released on December 20, 2002, starring the show's original cast members, Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Jodi Carlisle, Danielle Harris, Michael "Flea" Balzary, and Tom Kane. This film received positive reviews and was a box office success. It only grossed $40.1 million domestically and $60.7 million worldwide. On March 23, 2003, this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

*Rugrats Go Wild*, a crossover of *Rugrats* and *The Wild Thornberrys*, was released on June 13, 2003. This film met with mixed critical reception and was a minor box office success, unlike previous *Rugrats* movies, only earning $39.4 million in the United States and $55.4 million worldwide. This film is also the only *Rugrats* film to receive a PG rating.

In 2003, Nickelodeon Movies announced upcoming projects such as *The Smurfs*, *Bone*, *Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs*, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,* A Remake of *Charlotte's Web*, *The Fairly OddParents Movie*, *Yours, Mine and Ours*, and *Dora The Explorer: The Movie*.

On July 12, 2002, it was revealed that *A Blue Christmas: A Blue's Clues Movie,* a live-action/animated hybrid movie based on *Blue's Clues*, would be made as a way to celebrate the Nick Jr. Block's 15th Anniversary. Directed by Angela Santomero and Liz Maccie, the film began production in summer 2002. The film was released on December 19, 2003, just in time for Christmas. This film received positive reviews and was a box office success. On March 21, 2004, this film was nominated for and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

On June 11, 2004, Nickelodeon released *Garfield: The Movie*, based on the *Garfield* comic strip by Jim Davis. Despite negative reviews, the film grossed $75.4 million in the United States and $203.7 million worldwide. The success of this film led to a sequel.

On November 19, 2004, Nickelodeon released *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, based on the popular Nickelodeon television series, *SpongeBob SquarePants*. This film received positive reviews and grossed $85.4 million in the United States and $140.2 million worldwide. The success of this film led to a sequel, and it was adapted into various media, including its own video game, soundtrack, books, and toy line.

With the release of *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, Nickelodeon Movies returned to making box-office hits. The studio purchased the film rights of the *A Series of Unfortunate Events* book series in May 2000. Paramount Pictures, owner of Nickelodeon Movies, agreed to co-finance, along with Scott Rudin. Various directors, including Terry Gilliam and Roman Polanski, were interested in making the film. One of author Daniel Handler's, Lemony Snicket's real name, favorite candidates was Guy Maddin. In June 2002, Barry Sonnenfeld was hired to direct. He was chosen because he had previously collaborated with Rudin and because of his black comedy directing style as seen in his films *The Addams Family*, *Addams Family Values* and *Get Shorty*. Sonnenfeld referred to the *Unfortunate Events* books as his favorite children's stories. The director hired Handler to write the script with the intention of making *Lemony Snicket* as a musical, and cast Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in September 2002. Sonnenfeld eventually left over budget concerns in January 2003 and director Brad Silberling took over. This film was released on December 17, 2004, a month after *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie* was released. It received positive reviews and became a huge box office success, earning $118,634,549 at the United States box office and $209,073,645 worldwide. This film won an Academy Award for Best Makeup in 2005.

In 2005, the studio and Paramount Classics purchased a documentary film, *Mad Hot Ballroom*, at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It became the studios' first (and, so far, only) documentary film and their only film to have a limited theatrical release. It grossed $8,117,961 in the United States and $9,079,042 worldwide. It also was a huge critical success.

Several months later, the studio and Paramount Pictures released their co-production with both Warner Bros. Pictures and United Artists and released a family comedy film, *Yours, Mine and Ours*, a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. This film stars Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo. This film was critically panned, but was a modest box office success, earning $53,412,862 in the United States and $72,028,752 worldwide.

On June 16, 2006, Nickelodeon released the wrestling comedy film *Nacho Libre*. It is very loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta. This film stars Jack Black, Héctor Jiménez, and Ana de la Reguera. This film met with mixed critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $80,197,993 in the domestic box office and grossed $99,255,460 worldwide. A sequel to this film is being considered.

A month later, the studio released *Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties*. Although it became a commercial success, grossing $143 million against its $60 million budget, like its predecessor, the film also received generally negative reviews from critics.

Two months later, the studio released another CGI film, *Barnyard*, starring the voices of Kevin James, as Otis, a carefree cow who loves throwing parties, Courteney Cox as Daisy, a kind-hearted cow, David Koechner as Dag, an evil coyote, Sam Elliott as Ben, Otis's father and the leader of the barnyard, Danny Glover as Miles, an old mule, and voice actors Cam Clarke, Jeff Garcia, S. Scott Bullock, Tino Insana, Maurice LaMarche, John DiMaggio, Fred Tatasciore, and Rob Paulsen. This film met with negative critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $72,637,803 at the United States box office and grossed $116,476,887 worldwide. Like *Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*, the film's success has spawned into a TV show, *Back at the Barnyard*, which ran from 2007 to 2011 on Nickelodeon, longer than *The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*. Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James as the role for Otis.

On December 15, 2006, the studio released *Charlotte's Web*, a family drama film based on E. B. White's book of the same name, starring Dakota Fanning, Kevin Anderson, Beau Bridges, and the voices of Dominic Scott Kay, Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, Reba McEntire, Kathy Bates, with Thomas Haden Church and Cedric the Entertainer. This film became a critical and box office success, earning $82,985,708 in the United States and $144,877,632 worldwide. This is Nickelodeon's first G-rated film in five years and first live-action film rated G as well as being the studio's highest-grossing film with that rating. Dakota Fanning won a Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.

On March 23, 2007, the studio released another CGI film, *TMNT*, which was based on the *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* comic book series created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. This film was released theatrically in the United States on March 23, 2007. The film received mixed reviews and ultimately grossed over $95 million worldwide, including over $54 million domestically during its 91-day run in over 3,000 North American theaters.

On August 3, 2007, the studio released the first film based on the Nick Jr. animated series *Dora the Explorer*, titled *The Dora the Explorer Movie: Dora Saves the Mermaids*. This film met with mixed critical reception and was a minor box office success, only earning $39.4 million in the United States and $55.4 million worldwide.

Two years later on February 14, 2008, the studio released *The Spiderwick Chronicles*, a fantasy drama film based on the bestselling book of the same name, starring Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen. This film was released in both regular and IMAX theaters and received favorable reviews and was a box office success, earning $71,195,053 in the United States and $162,839,667 outside of the United States.

On July 28, 2008, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released a coming-of-age comedy film, *Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging*, based on two bestselling British novels by Louise Rennison, *Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging* and *It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers*. The film met with positive reviews and was a box office success. It was released in theaters in the United Kingdom, earning £8,647,770 and grossed £13,835,569 worldwide. To date, it has a direct-to-DVD release in the United States and has made its U.S. premiere on Nick at Nite on March 12, 2009. It is also the first film from Nickelodeon Movies to receive a PG-13 rating.

On January 16, 2009, *Hotel for Dogs* was released, starring Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Johnny Simmons, Kyla Pratt, Troy Gentile, with Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle. It is based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. This film received mixed reviews from film critics, but was a box office success, earning $73,034,460 in the United States box office and grossed $117,000,198 worldwide. It is distributed by DreamWorks. This marks the first film from Nickelodeon to be distributed outside of Paramount Pictures. However, it is still distributed under Paramount.

Five months later on June 12, 2009, Paramount Pictures released Nickelodeon Movies' *Imagine That*, a comedy-drama film starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Nicole Ari Parker, Martin Sheen, Marin Hinkle, and Yara Shahidi. The film received negative reviews, mainly criticizing Murphy's performance. It was also a box office failure, only earning $16,123,323 at the domestic box office and grossed only $22,985,194 worldwide.

### 2010s

On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the *Avatar: The Last Airbender* series, the first of which would encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One. The film was later released in theaters in 3D on July 1, 2010, and was universally panned by critics, fans, and even from audiences who weren't familiar with the TV series and is nowadays often considered one of the worst movies ever made. A year later, it won five Razzies, including worst screenplay, worst director and worst picture of the year. This was the studio's first feature film released in 3-D. On its opening day in the United States, *The Last Airbender* made $16 million, ranking fifth overall for Thursday openings. Despite negative critical reception, the film was a box office success, and grossed $131,601,062 in the United States box office, also grossed $187,340,196 in other countries, making for a total of $318,941,258 worldwide. That planned trilogy was finally scrapped in 2018, to make way for a new, unrelated, live-action series produced by Paramount+.

On March 4, 2011, Nickelodeon Movies released *Rango*, a CGI-animated western comedy film, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone, Timothy Olyphant and Ned Beatty. The film was produced by Gore Verbinski's production company Blind Wink, and Graham King's GK Films. The CGI animation was created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), marking its first full-length animated feature. ILM usually does visual effects for live-action films. It is also the first animated film for Verbinski. During voice recording, the actors received costumes and sets to "give them the feel of the Wild West"; star Johnny Depp had 20 days in which to voice Rango and the filmmakers scheduled the supporting actors to interact with him. Verbinski said his attempt with *Rango* was to do a "small" film after the large-scale *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy, but that he underestimated how painstaking and time-consuming animated filmmaking is. This film has met universal acclaim from critics and general audiences alike and was the first Nickelodeon film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, ten years on since the category was introduced when *Jimmy Neutron* was nominated.

Nine months later, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies partnered with Columbia Pictures and released *The Adventures of Tintin*, a performance-captured animated 3D film, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, with the voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and based on three from the comic book series of the same name by Hergé, *The Crab with the Golden Claws* (1941), *The Secret of the Unicorn* (1943), and *Red Rackham's Treasure* (1944). This film was released in 3D and IMAX 3D theaters, as well normal "2D" theaters, and earned $77,591,831 in North America and $296,402,120 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $373,993,951. It also was studio's first animated film to be shown in 3D. John Williams, the composer for the film, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. This film became the first non-Pixar film to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and is the first Nickelodeon film to do so.

On February 28, 2012, a sequel to *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie* titled *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water* was announced to be in production, and was scheduled to be released in 2015.[*needs update*] Philippe Dauman, the president and CEO of the studio's parent company Viacom, told sources:

> "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."
>
>

Dauman also once again said that the Paramount Animation productions will be a new opportunity for his company as they will each cost less than $100 million, and the animation unit will only have 30 to 40 people, allowing for good financial returns and profits. Thanks to modern technology, the films still look "great" despite the lower cost, he said. He also lauded his studio team for winning an animation Oscar for *Rango*, the studio's first fully owned CGI effort. "We're very proud of that," he said.

The sequel was directed by Paul Tibbitt, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, produced by Mary Parent, and executive-produced by the series' creator, Stephen Hillenburg. The series' cast members reprised their roles from the first film. The sequel was animated using the same animation style (traditional animation) as the TV show.

On March 21, 2012, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies partnered with DreamWorks Pictures once again and released *A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner*. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed $63 million in the United States and $184.4 million worldwide. This would be the last time that Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies would co-produce a film with DreamWorks Pictures.

On June 29, 2012, Nickelodeon released *Tails: A Sonic Movie* (Also known in the UK as Tails' Biggest Movie Ever) set in the universe of the popular Nickelodeon television series, *Sonic The Hedgehog Animated*. It was the biggest opening weekend for any movie produced by Nickelodeon Movies, grossing over $90 million in its first three days of release in the United States. It has since become Nickelodeon Movies' highest-grossing movie domestically (in North America) and worldwide, with over $191 million domestically and a total of $1.035 Billion worldwide.

On October 26, 2012, the studio released a Halloween comedy film, *Fun Size*, starring Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville, and Thomas Mann. This film met with negative reviews and was a box office failure. It grossed $11.4 million.

On December 5, 2013, the studio released the first film based on the Nick Jr. animated series *Bubble Guppies*, titled *The Puppy and The Ring*. Produced by Paramount Animation and Nelvana. It received mixed reviews and was a box office success. most of the reviews criticized how it was Paramount's attempt to cash in on *The Lord of the Rings* series.

A reboot of *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* opened on August 8, 2014. It was the biggest opening weekend for any movie produced by Nickelodeon Movies, grossing over $65 million in its first three days of release in the United States. It has since become Nickelodeon Movies's highest-grossing movie domestically (in North America) and worldwide, with over $191 million domestically and a total of $493.3 million worldwide.[*citation needed*]

On February 6, 2015, *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water*, the second film based on *SpongeBob SquarePants*, was released. The film grossed almost $163 million in the United States and $323.4 million worldwide, making it the third-most successful film produced by the studio.

On June 3, 2016, the studio released *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows*. The film was met with mixed reviews and grossed $240.6 million worldwide.

Nickelodeon Movies was also involved in the film *Monster Trucks*, though merely as a label partner as Paramount vacillated several times about including the Nickelodeon Movies vanity card within the film. It was released on January 13, 2017, as a critical and box-office flop.

An original animated feature produced by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies in association with Ilion Animation Studios, titled *Wonder Park*, released on March 15, 2019, with reviews being mixed, praising the animation and voice acting while criticizing the story and tone, and performed poorly at the box office, grossing $119 million against a budget of $80–100 million. A television series based on it, which is titled *Adventures in Wonder Park*, is scheduled to air on Nickelodeon in the near future making it the third animated film from Nickelodeon Movies, after Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard, to serve as the basis for an animated series on the network.

On August 9, 2019, the studio released a second film based on the Nick Jr. animated series *Dora the Explorer*, titled *Dora and the Lost City of Gold*. Produced by Paramount Players, it is directed by James Bobin. It received positive reviews and was a box office success.

Nickelodeon Movies distributed an original feature called *Playing with Fire*, starring John Cena, and directed by Andy Fickman. The film was released on November 8, 2019. It received negative reviews, but was a modest box office success.

### 2020s–present

On July 29, 2018, a new Digimon film project titled *Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna* was announced as part of the series' 20th anniversary. The film was produced in Japan by Toei Animation and animated by Yumeta Company, with Nickelodeon Movies signing on to present the film internationally. Unlike previous films from Nickelodeon Movies, the copyright to *Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna* is not owned by Paramount, with Toei Company and Toei Animation owning the copyright and Paramount/Nickelodeon only serving as distributors. The film was released in Japanese theaters on February 21, 2020, and was commercial success, grossing more than 24 million dollars worldwide. It was released in the United States on March 25, 2020. *Last Evolution Kizuna*, while unnoticed by cinema reviewers, received very positive reviews from pop culture and anime media when it was released in the US. European film critics, though, were more severe.

A third *SpongeBob* film, *Sponge on the Run*, was released on August 14, 2020, the film is directed and co-written by former writer Tim Hill. It is the last *SpongeBob* film to involve series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died on November 26, 2018, from ALS. It received positive reviews and was the first *SpongeBob* film to make $1 Billion Dollars in the Worldwide Box Office.

On May 19, 2019, a film based on *PAW Patrol*—a Canadian series aired by Nick Jr. in the United States—was announced. The film was directed and co-written by Cal Brunker, and it was released in both Canada and the United States on August 20, 2021, and simultaneously streaming on Paramount+. The film received positive reviews and was a box office success.

Additionally, the studio also released two direct to streaming movies: *The J Team*, a musical comedy starring JoJo Siwa was released on Paramount+ on September 3, 2021, and *My Little Pony: A New Generation*, based on the Hasbro toyline was released on Paramount+ on September 24, 2021, both as a Paramount+ original films.

*The Loud House Movie*, a film adaptation based on Nickelodeon's popular Nicktoon of the same name that is produced by British Film Institute, Toei Company, Toei Animation and Yumeta Company, which released on October 8, 2021. The film received praise for animation, acting and songs though some criticized the plot and was a box office failure. It grossed $4 million and is the lowest wide-grossed film ever produced by Nickelodeon Movies.

*Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank*, directed by Rob Minkoff and Mark Koetsier and starring Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Kylie Kuioka, and Samuel L. Jackson was released theatrically on July 15, 2022 in the United States and other territories.

*Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie* was released on Paramount+ on August 5, 2022.

On July 12, 2021, it was revealed that *Blue's Big City Adventure,* a live-action/animated hybrid movie based on *Blue's Clues & You!*, would be made to mark the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Directed by Matt Stawski and written by Angela Santomero and Liz Maccie, the film began production in summer 2021. The film was released on Paramount+ on November 18, 2022.

Two more films were released on Paramount+: *Fantasy Football*, a sports comedy starring Marsai Martin, release on November 25, and a musical remake of *Snow Day*, released on December 16.

## Upcoming projects

On May 24, 2016, it was announced that Alcon Entertainment would develop A new CG animated *Garfield* film, with John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner producing, from a script by Mark Torgove and Paul A. Kaplan. Mark Dindal was announced as director on November 12, 2018, with pre-production beginning the following month. In August 2019, Viacom acquired the rights to Garfield, letting Nickelodeon co-produce the film with Alcon and Paramount Pictures will maintain global distribution rights for the film, except for China. On November 1, 2021, Chris Pratt was announced as the voice of Garfield, with animation provided by DNEG Animation, a visual effects and animation studio who previously worked on the animated feature *Ron's Gone Wrong*. DNEG Animation will produce the film with Alcon and Nickelodeon Movies.

Nickelodeon Movies is teaming up with Point Grey Pictures to make a CG-animated film reboot of the *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* film series titled *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem*, which is currently in production with Jeff Rowe directing. The film is currently scheduled for release on August 4, 2023.

The sequel to *PAW Patrol: The Movie*, titled *PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie*, is currently in development with Cal Brunker returning as director and Jennifer Dodge, Laura Clunie, and Toni Stevens as producers. The film is scheduled for release on September 29, 2023.

Nickelodeon Movies is also working with Avatar Studios to make a theatrical CG-animated film, alongside 2 other animated films that will be released by Paramount Pictures, with one of the films, centered on the original characters, beginning production in October 2022. It will serve as the first project from Avatar Studios and is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2025.

On March 2, 2021, *Yokai Samba*, a film previously in development at DreamWorks Animation, had been picked up by the studio.

On August 2, 2021, Paramount Pictures announced that a new *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* live-action film was in the works with Colin Jost and Casey Jost penning the script and Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Scott Mednick and Galen Walker signing on as producers.

An animated musical Smurfs film was announced in February 2022 and is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2025.

A fourth theatrical *SpongeBob SquarePants* film and three spinoff films set for release on Paramount+ were announced in February 2022, with the first of the spinoffs scheduled for release in 2023 and the fourth theatrical film scheduled for release on May 23, 2025.

In March 2023, a sequel to *Good Burger* was announced, with Thompson and Mitchell reprising their roles, for a release on Paramount+ in 2023.

Nickelodeon Movies is working with CHF Entertainment, and ITV Studios North America to make a theatrical *Pip Ahoy!* animated film called *Pip Ahoy! The Movie*. It will serve as the first theatrical project from both CHF Entertainment and ITV Studios North America, Its scheduled to be released on July 19, 2025.