News

The hot dog imbalance — eight buns in a bag to 10 dogs in a pack — is an oft-spoken-of Americana annoyance, but it’s not the only bread-to-meat ratio that just doesn’t make sense. We’re talking, of course, about Wendy’s square hamburgers served on a round roll. Classic IndieWire stuff.

Wendy’s and Paramount are hammering out a deal to launch a new menu item at participating Wendy’s restaurants: the Krabby Patty. Yes, the sandwich of preference from the “SpongeBob Squarepants” cartoons is coming above sea level, a source confirmed to IndieWire. And you thought saucey nuggs would be the breakout Wendy’s menu item of 2024.

In the world of the Nickelodeon sea-sponge, the Krusty Krab is essentially the Wendy’s of the sea. It is also the employer of SpongeBob and Squidward. The Krab’s signature sandwich, the Krabby Patty, is about to wash ashore at your local...

Sales

Altitude is launching international sales on two films featuring iconic British band Blur at the Berlin European Film Market. The band, consisting of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, was formed in 1988 and tasted considerable success until it went on hiatus in 2015.

The first film is an untitled feature-length documentary depicting the return of Blur, captured across a year in which the band made a surprise return with their first record in eight years, the #1 album “The Ballad of Darren.” It follows the relationship of the bandmates of over three decades as they come together to record 10 new songs ahead of their sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2023. The second film is “Blur: Live At Wembley Stadium,” a two-hour concert film of the Wembley show.

Both films are directed by Toby L. and produced by Josh Connolly, via production...

Secret Headquarters has officially become Paramount+’s most-watched movie, marking a major high point for the popular streaming service.

In a press release, a representative stated Secret Headquarters “has rocketed to superhero status on Paramount+ as a must-watch summer family film, breaking the viewership record for an original movie in the first week of release.” Official numbers were not available at time of publication.

The plot synopsis: “While hanging out after school, Charlie and his friends discover the headquarters of the world’s most powerful superhero hidden beneath his home. When villains attack, they must team up to defend the headquarters and save the world.”

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Paranormal Activity 3 and 4) and starring Owen Wilson, Secret Headquarters marks Paramount+’s first foray into superhero movies. Their next release is the prequel Orphan: First Kill, which could offer some streaming competition.

Paramount+’s Secret Headquarters was...

Long-awaited animated feature “Lamya’s Poem” has unveiled its first trailer.

Alex Kronemer’s Rumi-inspired film about a Syrian refugee girl named Lamya was one of the hot competition titles at the 2021 Annecy Film Festival, and went on to play at festivals in Vancouver, Zurich and Prague.

The film is an inspiring and timely tale about a 12-year-old Syrian refugee who flees the violence of her country, and looks to a gifted book of poetry by the famous 13th-century poet, Rumi, as a source of strength. As the perils of her journey mount, the book becomes a magical gateway where she meets Rumi when he was a boy and also a refugee fleeing the violence of his time. In a shared dreamworld, they battle the monsters that follow them from their real world situations, and Lamya must help young Rumi find his calling and write the poem that, 800 years later,...

Three new SpongeBob SquarePants character spinoff movies for Paramount+ are in the works at Nickelodeon Studios, in addition to a new theatrical release about the porous resident who lives in a Pineapple-under-the-sea. The news was announced today by Brian Robbins, Chief Content Officer, Movies and Kids & Family for Paramount+ at the ViacomCBS Investor Event. The first of Paramount+’s SpongeBob character spinoff movies, which focus on different Bikini Bottom residents, will drop in 2023. The expansion of the SpongeBob franchise follows the recent success of SpongeBob series offshoots Kamp Koral on Paramount+ and The Patrick Star Show on Nickelodeon, the first season of which will be available soon to stream on Paramount+. Paramount has made three SpongeBob feature movies, the first in 2004, which altogether have grossed close to $471M worldwide. The highest grossing installment was 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water which grossed over $325M WW. However, because of the pandemic,...

Paramount+ unveiled robust plans Tuesday for three of its most highly profitable franchises, setting the table for a series of films derived from “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Transformers.”

“As we’ve known with Nickelodeon’s long-standing success, the kids and family audience is incredibly loyal, and we see that on Paramount+ as well, with kids and family ranking as one of the strongest genres on the service in terms of both engagement and subscriber acquisition,” Brian Robbins, Paramount+ chief content officer for movies and kids & family, said in a statement as part of the streamer’s investors day presentation. “So as they stay for our shows and look for even more of them, we’re doubling down on giving them what they want by expanding the universes of the characters they love the best.”

Among the projects are three new movies set in the “SpongeBob SquarePants” universe,...

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Digital filmmaking was mostly resigned to Dslr, until Red digital came into the picture. The camera company quickly became a favorite among directors and cinematographers, including Steven Soderbergh, one of the earliest to use a Red camera when he shot both installments of “Che” in 2008. Given the hefty price tag, Red cameras are too pricey to buy for some indie filmmakers — other than the Red Komodo, which are geared for indie productions, most indie filmmakers would rent these cameras rather than buy them unless they’re big studio productions. A Red camera can run you anywhere from $6,000 to upwards of $50,000, and despite being used in productions of all sizes, you’ll typically find...

Paramount Pictures has parted ways with animation president Mireille Soria. In a promotion, Nickelodeon’s Ramsey Naito has added oversight of the label to her purview.

Soria’s exit comes during a continuing reorganization of Paramount Pictures by new chairman and CEO Brian Robbins, who replaced Jim Gianopulos in early September. Emma Watts, the seasoned production executive only a year in her post as president of the Paramount motion picture group, was dismissed last Friday.

“Ramsey is one of the savviest executives and creative minds in our industry. During her time at Nick, she has transformed and reinvigorated the Animation Studio division with her sharp business instincts, deep stable of relationships and unique eye for great storytelling, and I’m thrilled to have her bring her talents to this expanded role where she can further elevate our overall animation business,” Robbins said in a statement.

Soria, he added, “has been...

All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

“Rugrats,” “Doug,” and “Ren & Stimpy” debuted on Nickelodeon 30 years ago today (August 11). Feel old yet? Cheer yourself up by binge watching these beloved Nicktoons from the ’90s, plus new movies such as “A Quiet Place Part II” and thousands of other TV series and films on Paramount+.

Not signed up for Paramount+? You can join today and enjoy a free seven-day trial. If you’re not familiar with the platform, we put together a breakdown of what TV shows and movies are available on Paramount+ and how much it costs. For sports lovers, fans of cartoons, and anyone looking to break free of cable, Paramount+ is a budget-friendly streaming option.

The platform (formerly...

ViacomCBS topped more than 42 million paid global subscribers combined between its streaming platforms, primarily Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access) and Showtime Ott, in the second quarter of 2021, the company reported Thursday.

That’s up from the 36 million subscribers worldwide that ViacomCBS reported it had reached across Paramount+ and Showtime on May 6, two months after the March 4 rebrand of CBS All Access into Paramount+.

Along with its earnings results and updated subscriber count, ViacomCBS revealed Thursday that it will be partnering with Sky, a Comcast-owned company, to launch Paramount+ in European markets, including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, in 2022.

Per ViacomCBS, the 6.5 million streaming subscriber additions in Q2 came primarily from Paramount+, with the top drivers of sign-ups including the new “iCarly” revival, “Infinite,” UEFA Champions League, “The Challenge: All Stars” and “Why Women Kill.” Engagement on the rebranded platform reached all-time high in the...

Paramount+ is the latest streamer to plant a flag on “one-movie-a-week” land as parent ViacomCBS boosts content spending in the wake of a big capital raise earlier this year.

“Frankly, there are not that many movies on Paramount+ today,” said CEO Bob Bakish in a call with analysts after the company released quarterly earnings. He said the one-a-week model – which echoes similar pushes by Netflix and Disney+ — will include a dozen short-window theatrical releases like Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II. Other titles will come from the Paramount Players division or sub- studios like Nickelodeon, Awesomeness and MTV Entertainment. Awesomeness produced for Netflix a model of what ViacomCBS envisions feeding to Paramount+: the inexpensive, wildly popular rom-com franchise To All the Boys I Loved Before.

He also announced that Paramount’s Antoine Fuqua-directed sci-fi thriller Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg, will bypass theatrical release and hit the Paramount+ streaming service in June.

Paramount+ will add 1,000 new movies to the fledgling streaming service next month, including the Antoine Fuqua-directed sci-fi thriller “Infinite,” starring Mark Wahlberg, which was originally destined for theaters. Additionally, the service will get an average of one original movie per month beginning in 2022, all part of increased investments ViacomCBS is making in streaming, the company’s executives revealed during their Q1 earnings call Thursday morning.

“They’re real movies, they’re not deep library,” CEO Bob Bakish said of the 1,000-movie drop. Those additions, along with some more titles to be added in July, will bring the total number of films available on the platform to 2,500. Other titles coming this summer include “A Quiet Place Part II,” which will appear on the service after a 45-day theatrical release, plus “The Avengers,” “Skyfall,” and “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Paramount+ launched in the US March 4, representing an upgraded investment in streaming for ViacomCBS,...

Blend one well-known name with scandal; add an appealing subject. Bake in theatrical visibility and fold in home-friendly pricing. Best served with stale alternatives. With this well-tested recipe for VOD success, the long-delayed “City of Lies” stands out this week.

The troubled 2018 film stars Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker as Los Angeles detectives investigating the murders of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Open Road filed for bankruptcy shortly after it acquired the film. Legal and pandemic issues followed, and then Saban stepped in. A March 19 theater release roused $565,000; two weeks later, it debuted on VOD. It’s a trajectory similar to the one recently enjoyed by the disgraced Armie Hammer, who stars opposite Gary Oldman in another VOD hit, “Crisis.”

Priced at $6.99, “City of Lies” took first place at AppleTV, #4 at GooglePlay (both ranking by number of rentals) and an impressive fourth place at FandangoNow (which lists by revenue earned...

The Visual Effects Society Awards were handed out during a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, April 6. “The Midnight Sky” won the Ves equivalent of the Best Picture race – Best Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. It bested Oscar frontrunner “Tenet” in that category, as well as “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey,” “Project Power” and “The Witches.” George Clooney‘s sci-fi drama won an additional prize for Best Model in a Photoreal of Animated Project. Scroll down for a complete list of winners and nominees at the 2021 Visual Effects Society Awards.

“Tenet” shouldn’t get too discouraged about its Oscar chances. Last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Visual Effects, “1917,” wasn’t even nominated in the top category at the Ves. That award went to “The Lion King,” which lost at the Oscars to Sam Mendes‘ WWI epic. “1917” did compete at the Visual Effects Society for Best Supporting Visual Effects,...

The John D. Eraklis-directed animated feature Pierre The Pigeon-Hawk is adding more A-listers to its already star-studded voice cast. Grammy Award winner will.i.am (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy award winner Jennifer Hudson, and multiplatinum-selling artist Snoop Dogg (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run) have now on board, joining previously announced cast Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Coolidge, Kenan Thompson, Howie Mandel, Luis Guzmán, Domenick Lombardozzi, Paul Blackthorne, Jamal Trulove, Evan Ross, and Ashlee Simpson.

The film hails from Exodus Film Group. Set in NYC, the musically driven comedy centers on Pierre (will.i.am), born as a product of forbidden love between a hawk (Goldberg) and a pigeon (Mandel). Pierre is rejected by both communities. Tired of not fitting in, Pierre sets out on a mission to discover where he truly belongs.

During his adventure, he unites with a band of unlikely friends...

“Raya and the Last Dragon,” which grossed $32 million for its first month in theaters, made a strong general-public premium VOD debut. Everyone can now buy it at $29.99; previously, only Disney+ subscribers had the privilege with the same upcharge. The animated film took the top spot at FandangoNow as well as AppleTV which ranks by purchase volume.

“Black Widow” and “Cruella” are expected to follow suit in the coming months, but Disney+ availability looks a lot less threatening after the box-office success of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which grossed $48.5 million — over 9 million tickets sold — even while available on HBO Max. In Canada, where most theaters are not yet open, it took in around $3 million U.S. as a PVOD offering.

After several weeks at $19.99, “Wonder Woman 1984” benefited from a price reduction to $5.99 three months after its theatrical debut — Aka normal practice. It is #1 at Google Play, and #2 at AppleTV and FandangoNow,...

Snoop Dogg will be joining The Voice coaches Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, John Legend and Blake Shelton as Mega Mentor on the current Season 20 of NBC’s Emmy-winning musical competition series.

He’ll be mentoring the remaining artists who have made it through the Battle Rounds, as each team prepares for the Knockouts, beginning Monday, April 19 (8-10 p.m. Et/Pt).

During the Knockout Rounds, artists are once again paired against a teammate, but select their own song to perform individually while their direct competitor watches and waits. Renowned rapper, producer and performer Snoop Dogg will impart a new and fresh perspective to help the artists craft their performances. Coaches alone choose the winner to advance from their team. Each coach has one steal in the Knockouts.

Additionally, the four artists that were saved by their individual coaches during the Battle Rounds will compete in the Four-Way Knockout. Each of...

To judge by this weekend’s box office, Oscars mean little to the movie-loving public. The five available Best Picture contenders — “The Father,” “Minari,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Nomadland,” and “Promising Young Woman” — grossed in the range of $200,000-$300,000.

However, “Promising” also dropped from $19.99 to $5.99 on VOD one day after Academy announced its five nominations. It now ranks on every chart we list, including #1 on Apple TV. “Minari” also received increased attention, even at $19.99. Of note is its #5 placement at Spectrum Cable; not only do its customers tend to reflect mass-audience tastes, but the chart ranks by rentals, not price. That shows significant crossover interest.

“Nomadland” is available on Hulu and “Judas” is available at HBO Max (through March 28), so any Oscar impacts at home are unknown. “The Father” will be available on PVOD March 26.

“Monster Hunter,” also now available as a standard-price VOD, is the other title to...

Even with new titles on VOD and streaming charts, the Oscar nominations may shake things up. Netflix received 35 total nominations among 14 titles, providing an unprecedented chance to see how many titles return to charts. The two top performers to date have been “Hillbilly Elegy” and “The Midnight Sky.” Nomination leader (with 10) “Mank” barely caused a wrinkle on the charts, placing tenth for a single day when it was released.

Currently, the dominant VOD titles are Sony’s standard-price ”Monster Hunter” and PVOD “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.” However, the other #1 is Nicholas Jarecki’s “Crisis” (Quiver) in its second week. The tripych of opiate-crisis stories starring Gary Oldman and Armie Hammer showed initial response last week and is now tops at Apple TV (which often foretells success later at other sites). For some reason (possibly a listed price of $9.99?), it doesn’t show up on the top 500 titles at Google Play.

Tiffany Haddish is set to star in and produce a new film based on the Dark Horse comic “Mystery Girl” that’s set up at Netflix.

McG, known for 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” and more recently “The Babysitter,” is directing the film that’s a murder mystery about a girl who seemingly knows everything.

“Mystery Girl” is the story of Trine, who solves neighborhood mysteries for $50 each. After she agrees to help a down-on-his-luck LAPD officer crack a case, the two are framed for murder and must work together to clear their names.

“Mystery Girl” is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by Paul Tobin and Alberto Alburquerque. McG is directing, and Haddish is producing through her She Ready Productions. Also producing are Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg of Dark Horse Entertainment, and McG and Mary Viola for Wonderland Sound and Vision.

Melanie Clark is executive producing for She Ready Productions.

Royalty is in vogue. Amazon Prime reported that its Eddie Murphy sequel “Coming 2 America,” per Screen Engine/Asi, had the most opening-weekend viewings of any original film in the past 12 months. Over the weekend, Prime Video also became the top downloaded Entertainment app on the App Store, and the #2 downloaded app across all free apps. Paramount Pictures initially planned to release the $60 million title in theaters last August, but sold worldwide rights to Amazon for a reported $125 million.

Another Paramount title, “SpongeBob: Sponge on the Run,” finally made its American debut as a Premium VOD for $19.99. It bested all premium titles and took #1 on the revenue-based FandangoNow chart. It’s the latest breakout success among animated films that includes “The Croods: A New Age,” “Soul,” and “Tom & Jerry.”

“Raya and the Last Dragon” also debuted this weekend in theaters and on Disney+ for those subscribers willing to pay...

In its first weekend on Amazon Prime, Eddie Murphy’s “Coming 2 America” became the most-watched streaming film since movie theaters closed due to Covid-19 nearly a year ago, according to Amazon and Screen Engine/Asi.

The sequel to the ’80s comedy about an African prince traveling to New York to find true love topped “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run,” which was originally set for theatrical release but instead became a launch title for the new Paramount+ streaming service. “Coming 2 America” was also initially set to be a Paramount theatrical release, but was sold to Amazon as part of a series of sales of Paramount films to various streaming services.

Along with “Coming 2 America” and “Spongebob,” the top five most-watched streaming films of the weekend on Screen Engine’s charts were Netflix’s “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” and “I Care A Lot,” along...

It’s a very different landscape this week than it was a year ago, just before the pandemic forced cinemas to close around the country. Still, with New York cinemas cautiously reopening this week and many other markets determined to bring moviegoing back, the studios and indie distributors alike are bringing many of their long-delayed releases onto screens, albeit in an entirely new way.

For contrasting examples, look at how two of the majors are handling what were intended to be family film tentpoles: Paramount decided to bypass theaters entirely with “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” using the title to launch its new subscription service, Paramount Plus. Disney tested a similar approach with “Mulan” late last summer, and now unveils its latest animated princess movie, “Raya and the Last Dragon” — though that label disguises the many ways in which this one advances the formula — both in theaters and...

Out with the old, in with the rebranded. ViacomCBS launched its Paramount+ streaming service on March 4, and the media conglomerate is hedging its bets that the platform and its slew of upcoming high-profile content will allow it to carve a major place for itself in one of the most competitive parts of the entertainment industry.

Paramount+ is not ViacomCBS’ first foray into the streaming industry: The service is effectively a rebrand of CBS All Access, which launched in 2014. CBS All Access subscribers will not notice any service interruption and all of the original platform’s content is available on Paramount+. The rebranded service sells the same ad-free $9.99 per month subscription tier as CBS All Access, while a $4.99 ad-supported tier will launch in June and is $1 cheaper than CBS All Access’ ad-supported option.

Content is king in the streaming industry and Paramount+ will exclusively stream a slew of films and television...

The Academy has made a final count of its members leading into the beginning of Oscar nomination voting on Friday, with 9,127 members eligible to cast ballots for this year’s awards. That’s 235 fewer voters than in the count that was made in December, with the reduction due to some members moving to the non-voting emeritus classification and others dying or leaving the organization.

The number of Oscar voters has still topped 9,000 for the first time since the mid-1940s, when the Academy allowed members of the Hollywood guilds to vote. And the total number of members, which includes non-voting associate members and emeritus members, remains above the 10,000 mark at 10,098.

And with the full count available for all the Academy’s branches, it’s time for TheWrap’s annual look at how many votes it takes to get an Oscar nomination. As always, it’s not as many as you might expect,...

There’s a lot of talk about the secret formula behind delicious Krabby Patties in “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” but the real secret formula lies in the creative trust that has managed to create not one, not two, but now three thoroughly entertaining feature-length adaptations of the long-running TV show.

In an era when so many 25-page children’s books or eight-minute animated shorts have been bloated beyond proportion on their way to becoming 90-minute movies, Team SpongeBob deserves credit for unlocking the alchemy behind building up and building out a storyline and a set of characters without losing sight of what made the original beloved in the first place.

This time around, writer-director Tim Hill steps in, and he’s managed to take the goofy denizens of Bikini Bottom on a road trip that is visually dazzling and almost consistently hilarious, mixing verbal and physical humor,...

The world’s most popular sea sponge for the last 20 years in a row, the ever-upbeat SpongeBob SquarePants is back, spongier than ever, and eager to give us a brief yet slaphappy reprieve from the collective sogginess of the last 12 months. Not that the osmotic optimist ever really went away; a while has passed since SpongeBob’s previous feature-length adventure, but the Nickelodeon show that made him an icon among kids and stoners alike is still going strong despite the death of creator Stephen Hillenburg in 2018.

Still, two decades is a long time in sponge years, and even basal metazoa who live in pineapples under the sea and earn their parent companies billions of dollars in licensing deals aren’t immune to the pressures of a superficial industry that only tends to care about what’s above the surface. In other words, SpongeBob has gotten some “work” done. And he’s not alone.

ViacomCBS executives took a page out of the Disney playbook with a three-hour investors’ extravaganza February 24 during which executives previewed the streaming strategy anchored by the soon-to-launch Paramount+. Familiar streaming themes were there and accounted for: Spend big on content ($5 billion annually by 2024) and leverage existing IP.

Even as ViacomCBS imitates its competitors’ success, it’s approaching a streaming-first future on its own terms. Unlike Disney and its Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle, the single Paramount+ app provides programming for adults and kids, live news and sports, a library with 2,500 movies and 30,000 episodes, and exclusive content from the likes of MTV, Comedy Central, and CBS.

Where WarnerMedia built its offering around HBO Max, ViacomCBS will keep Showtime as a separate paid service. The ad-based Pluto TV will also remain in play.

Together, Paramount+, Showtime, BET+, and Pluto create what Viacom executives called “the super funnel” designed to sell ads and reach consumers online,...

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been an organization that has had noteworthy recognitions in its history, especially in the comedy categories and undoubtedly some questionable judgment calls. Oftentimes, we look to the international group to recognize films and performances that don’t get a worthwhile look from the Academy and other major awards bodies.

Josh Greenbaum’s “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” was released on PVOD on Feb. 12, and with the hilarious turns by Academy Award nominees Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, and a scene-stealing turn from Jamie Dornan, critics and audiences seem to be buzzing about it being the perfect movie during a pandemic. Unfortunately, the film is caught in a “Covid-awards loophole” under the current rules and guidelines for the Golden Globes and SAG Awards and is not eligible for either award in 2022.

The Lionsgate comedy was originally scheduled to be released theatrically on...

The Super Bowl is usually a big chance for Hollywood studios to hype up their blockbusters for the coming year by spending millions on ad time for new trailers and footage. But with the Covid-19 pandemic still hanging over the industry, particularly big-screen releases, many studios and streamers are sitting this year out.

Representatives for Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and Paramount have told TheWrap that their studios will not have any ad presence during the big showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday. On the streamer side, HBO Max, Netflix and Hulu will also be on the sidelines.

Disney, on the other hand, is again planning a big spend — both for big-screen releases as well as projects on its Disney+ streaming service. The company is expected to air ads for the MCU’s next two series “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki,” which will...

In an already-crowded streaming landscape, how will the soon-to-launch Paramount+ (newly rebranded from CBS All Access) possibly make a dent? With a couple of splashy, family-friendly pieces of SpongeBob SquarePants lore, that’s how. Today, Paramount+ announced that The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and the prequel television series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years will […]

The post ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run’ and Prequel Show ‘Kamp Koral’ to Debut on Paramount+ in March appeared first on /Film.

In today’s TV news roundup, Paramount Plus announced the series premiere date for “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years,” and Hulu released the new trailer for Blumhouse’s Valentine’s Day special “Into the Dark: Tentacles.”

Dates

ViacomCBS announced that the “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoff series “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” will premiere alongside “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” March 4 on Paramount Plus. The first six episodes of the animated Nickelodeon spinoff will be available to stream on that day, while the final seven episodes of the 13-episode season will roll out on the platform at later dates to be announced. “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” features the beloved sponge, his best friend Patrick and the rest of the Bikini Bottom gang tracking down SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary when he goes missing. A path of clues lead them to the powerful King Poseidon, who is holding Gary captive.

Paramount+, the highly anticipated streaming service from ViacomCBS, today announced that both The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run and all-new Paramount+ Original Series Kamp Koral: Spongebob’S Under Years will premiere on the service on Thursday, March 4. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run will also be released by Paramount Home Entertainment for Premium Video-On-Demand (PVOD) on the same day. The official trailer for The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run was also released today in addition to the official key art for both the movie and Kamp Koral: Spongebob’S Under Years.

Kamp Koral’s first six episodes will be available to stream beginning March 4 exclusively on Paramount+ for subscribers in the U.S. The rest of the season’s 13-episode order will roll out on the platform at later dates to be announced.

In addition to its availability on Paramount+, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run will be...

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” will be available on the rebranded Paramount+ when it launches on March 4, as will the first six episodes of the new animated series “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years.”

“Sponge on the Run” was meant to be a theatrical release this past summer, but Paramount announced last year that it would premiere on streaming in 2021. In addition to debuting on Paramount+, the film will also be available on premium video on demand on the same day.

“The SpongeBob Movie” is the first “SpongeBob” adaptation that’s entirely in animated CGI, and it follows Spongebob as he goes on a road trip to search for his missing pet snail Gary. The film is directed and written by Tim Hill and features the voices of Tom Kenny, Awkwafina, Matt Berry, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence and Reggie Watts, as well as...

Trevor Noah is staying in the Viacom family for his next creative endeavor, an untitled feature film with Paramount Animation, Variety has learned exclusively.

The untitled project is based on an original idea from Noah. The plot is under wraps but is said to be timely, poignant and comedic. Jonathan Groff (“Black-ish”) and Jon Pollack (“Modern Family”) are set to write the script. Noah will produce via his Day Zero Productions, with his president of production Haroon Saleem.

Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt and Sanaz Yamin will also serve as producers via Mainstay Entertainment.

Noah, who began in stand-up, rose to fame as the host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. The comedy-news hybrid has found new resonance amid the pandemic and social unrest of 2020.

He is repped by CAA, Mainstay Entertainment, Day Zero Productions, Jill Fritzo PR and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, & Gellman L.

A week ago, the race for the Best Animated Feature Oscar seemed as if it could have the smallest field of entries in years. Only 13 films were in the online screening room devoted to the category, although some significant contenders were clearly going to be added, Pixar’s “Soul,” Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers” and Gkids’ “Earwig and the Witch” among them.

But on Friday, Jan. 15, voters in the category awoke to find that the size of the race had essentially doubled. Instead of 13 films in the screening room, there were 27, with the newcomers including not just “Soul” and “Wolfwalkers” and “Earwig and the Witch,” but also films from Denmark (“Dreambuilders”), Poland (“Kill It and Leave This Town”), Latvia (“My Favorite War”), South Korea (“Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs”) and India (“Bombay Rose”), as well as a Croatian movie with the intriguing and confounding title “Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Water Rebus.

Nickelodeon debuted the first sneak peek from the upcoming “SpongeBob SquarePants” prequel series “Kamp Koral” on Sunday, giving a first look at the 3D-animated versions of the beloved undersea characters.

The clip, which debuted during Nick’s broadcast of the NFL Wild Card Game, sees a 10-year-old SpongeBob raring for his first “jellyfishing” outing at sleepaway camp. Unfortunately, the young sponge has less luck than he’d probably hoped for.

The clip is taken from the series premiere, titled “The Jellyfish Kid,” in which a young SpongeBob is determined to catch his first jellyfish and his friends do whatever they can to help him.

“Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” is the first of two “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoffs in the pipeline, though “Kamp Koral” won’t air on Nickelodeon. Instead, the prequel will drop on the soon-to-be-rebranded Paramount+ streaming service, where it will live alongside the film “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Universal Pictures is selling international distribution rights to the upcoming Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass film “News of the World” to Netflix.

Universal still plans to release the western drama in U.S. theaters on Christmas Day. It’s unclear when the film will be available on Netflix in international territories, but it will likely be in 2021. The deal has not been finalized, but is expected to close soon.

During the pandemic, studios have altered release plans for numerous movies — moving some (like Pixar’s “Soul” and romantic drama “The Lovebirds”) to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus, and others to premium video-on-demand platforms. Potential blockbusters that were slated for 2020, including Marvel’s “Black Widow” and James Bond sequel “No Time to Die,” still intended to open on the big screen but have been pushed into next year or beyond to steer clear of coronavirus.

Netflix prefers global distribution deals,...

For the first 30 years of his career, Keanu Reeves hardly ever appeared in sequels. He played Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure before reprising the role two years later for the duo’s Bogus Journey, but apart from that, The Matrix was the only other franchise that the beloved actor agreed to star in.

During the recent renaissance that has firmly established the 56 year-old as one of the most popular actors on the planet, though, he appears to have gone sequel mad. After appearing as Duke Caboom in last year’s Toy Story 4, Reeves reprised his breakout role for the first time in almost three decades for the warmly received threequel Bill & Ted Face the Music, while he’s currently shooting The Matrix 4 and will then movie directly onto the fourth installment in the John Wick series.

The Point Break star’s recent...

Keanu Reeves has been a major star in Hollywood for several decades now, but he’s always been known to be one of the nicest guys in the industry, too, which is one of the big reasons why he’s still so popular and beloved amongst fans and general moviegoers. Indeed, it seems he can really do no wrong and as such, it’s not surprising that he’s completely dominating Netflix today.

The actor currently has 2 films drawing in subscribers and they couldn’t be more different from one another. For those wondering, the titles in question are Knock Knock and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. However, they aren’t popping up on the same chart.

You see, the former, a 2015 thriller that’s got everyone talking right now, is found in the #3 spot on the US-only most-watched movies list. Meanwhile, the latter, a recently released pic...

Anime in particular is starting to go mainstream among Gen Z and Millennials as the number of global streaming buyers grows.

Japanese film and TV content, in particular anime, has been reaching new international audiences during the era of Covid-19 lockdowns and growing steaming consumption, according to several speakers at this week’s Tiffcom Online (November 4-6).

On the first day of the market, Crunchyroll general manager Joanne Waage said the WarnerMedia-owned anime streaming service has already achieved its projected year-end figures of 3 million subscribers and 70 million registered users.

“During Covid times, the streaming business has been resilient as people have been home more,...

While the rest of the world gets to see the new SpongeBob movie on Netflix today, the beloved talking sponge is on the run far away from the U.S. and Canada. Paramount Animation’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run hits Netflix today, November 5, in all countries except for the U.S. and Canada, with Americans having to […]

The post ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run’ Arrives on Netflix Today – Except in the U.S. and Canada appeared first on /Film.

We’ve seen the Best Picture race slowly come into view thanks to a pandemic delayed deadline, but other categories are also coming into play. Best Animated Feature film already has a number of contenders that found audiences on PVOD with “Onward,” “Trolls World Tour” and “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run” while “Over the Moon,” “The Willoughbys” and “Soul” still loom on the horizon. One film that can’t be discounted, however, is “Wolfwalkers” which will be theatrically released by GKids but hit Apple TV+ before the holidays.

Continue reading ‘Wolfwalkers’ Trailer: Is The ‘Secrets Of Kells’ Followup Another Animated Oscar Player? at The Playlist.

As theaters regain their footing, they’re making baby steps. The good news: for the first time since March, 10 first-run films played in theaters in the U.S. and Canada, grossing $100,000 or more. And most drops from the past week were under 30%, which is above average: Warner Bros.’ “Tenet” dropped 26%, with few new theaters. Such small drops suggest an uptick in interest in going to theaters.

The bad news: there is little new to be seen. And disturbingly, on the specialty side, even though they played hundreds of theaters, Bleecker Street’s “The Secrets We Keep” and IFC’s “The Nest” failed to pull even minimal adult audiences.

This weekend last year, all films grossed $123 million. Led by three new openers, the lowest total for a Top Ten title was just under $1.5 million. This year, with something over 3,000 locations open (exact number unknown), a tiny increase over last week, total...

Labor Day weekend gave us our first glimpse at what a blockbuster looks like in the age of Covid-19. Christopher Nolan’s long-delayed brainteaser, Tenet, was the first major test of US movie exhibition in the coronavirus pandemic. Now, with receipts tallied, it appears the Warner Bros. film passed that test. The twisty, PG-13 thriller starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh, and Elizabeth Debicki opened with $20.2 million domestically in 2,810 theaters over the long holiday weekend.

Nolan’s blockbuster-scaled film was originally slated for release back in July, but unlike other big Hollywood tentpoles, such as Marvel’s The Eternals and the Fast and the Furious sequel F9, which opted to pushed their releases to 2021, Warner Bros. decided on a 2020 opening for what’s been regarded as one of the year’s buzziest titles. Nolan’s film has also resonated overseas, where it pulled in $126 million over two weekends...

With an estimated $7 million, Disney’s The New Mutants from 20th Century Studios fell on the lower end of pre-weekend predictions. Critical reception was mixed-to-negative heading into the weekend as the X-Men universe spin-off found itself unable to build on its Friday performance. Opening in 2,412 theaters, the film took in $3.1 million on Friday and dropped 21% on Saturday ($2.45 million) and 40.8% on Sunday ($1.45 million). It had a $2,902 per-theater average. Still, as theaters across the country continue to re-open, there is a chance that the PG-13 film, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams, could attract more ticket buyers. For historical comparison, the last X-Men-related movie, Dark Phoenix, opened to $32.8 million domestically on June 5, 2019.

Internationally, The New Mutants added an additional $2.9 million, bringing its worldwide opening weekend cumulative to $9.9 million.

Finishing in the runner-up position was Solstice Studios’ Unhinged. In its third week of release, the R-rated Russell Crowe thriller earned $2.6 million in 2,331 theaters,...

Superhero thriller “The New Mutants,” one of the first major movies to open since coronavirus forced theaters to close in March, launched to $7 million over the weekend. Though ticket sales were on the lower end of expectations, the Disney and 20th Century Studios title marks the biggest debut yet for a new release during the pandemic.

Around 60-70% of theaters have reopened across the U.S. and Canada, according to Disney. However, some of the biggest moviegoing markets, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, New Jersey and New York, still remain closed. In parts of the country where theaters have resumed business, venues are capping capacity and keeping space between seats to comply with social distancing measures. “The New Mutants” played in 2,412 theaters, making it the widest release in months.

Overseas, “The New Mutants” amassed $2.9 million from 10 markets, bringing its global haul to $9.9 million.

“We’re encouraged by the results,...

After months-long cinema closures, the U.S. box office has opened to the most significant degree since pre-pandemic times.

Movie theaters in Florida, Texas, Georgia and other parts of the country that were able to safely reopen welcomed the first major theatrical premiere since March: Solstice Studios’ “Unhinged,” a thriller starring Russell Crowe. The film played in 1,823 venues in North America, marking the widest release yet since the pandemic hit.

“Unhinged” pocketed more than $4 million over the weekend, a promising result given the challenging environment. In normal times, that figure wouldn’t be much to crow about. However, only a fraction of the nation’s 6,000 movie theaters are currently in business — and major markets like New York, California and New Jersey are still closed without a set date to reopen. The biggest ticket sales for “Unhinged” came from drive-ins in Los Angeles, San Fransisco and Sacramento, as well as multi-screen theaters in Dallas,...

Keanu Reeves Day might have been canceled after The Matrix 4 was delayed by almost an entire year, which created a knock-on effect that will also see John Wick: Chapter 4 pushed back, but the beloved actor’s upcoming schedule is still packed with sequels. Along with increased speculation surrounding the long-awaited follow-up to Constantine, the 55 year-old will also cameo in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, but first out of the gate is Bill & Ted Face the Music, with the iconic duo returning to our screens for the first time since 1991’s Bogus Journey.

The threequel had been stuck in development hell for decades before it finally managed to make it into production, and then faced further setbacks after the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Originally scheduled to reach theaters in August, the continued uncertainty about the industry’s ability to reopen forced the studio to change their tactics and...

Canada and the U.S. are in different worlds when it comes to Covid-19. The northern neighbor is good to go for most theaters (with safety measures in play). And with that, the country went its own way this weekend with two wide releases.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” took top spot for all theaters in both countries, grossing around $910,000 in 300 theaters. The Russell Crowe-starring thriller “Unhinged” was #2 with about $580,000 on 284 screens. “Peninsula,” the Korean “Train to Busan” sequel, made $119,000 in 45 theaters. This opens in 115 U.S. theaters this Friday.

In 2015, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water” opened to $55 million ion North America, and Canada generally earns about 10 percent of the two-country total. If the new SpongeBob” opened in North America in a world without Covid, we might factor in a falloff of interest in the franchise over five years; a reasonable guess might be a...