SANTA MONICA, CA. (Nick Movies/ MTV PR) - Shattering the previous record held by The Rugrats Movie in 1998 at $27.3 million, THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE hauled in $33.5 million at the box office this weekend, to make it the strongest opening ever for a Nickelodeon Movies release.
Released by Paramount Pictures, the film opened in 3212 theaters nationwide and bubbled to the top of the charts on a wave of fabulous reviews, most notably from the New York and Los Angeles Times.
THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE, based on the hit series that began airing on Nickelodeon in 1999 and continues to be a top-rated series, earned an impressive $10,000 per screen average. Producer Julia Pistor noted, "We always knew that SpongeBob had a universal appeal and Stephen Hillenburg created a wonderful story about two silly characters on the journey of a lifetime. Fans old and new to enjoy all the goofiness of Bikini Bottom in a big-screen format. We're just happy they love it as much as we do."
Nickelodeon Movies is also the production entity behind one of the most anticipated holiday films, LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, and Jude Law as the voice of Lemony Snicket. The film is due in theaters from Paramount and Dreamworks on December 17th.
SNICKET is directed by Brad Silberling and is based on the first three books in Daniel Handler's Lemony Snicket collection which has enjoyed enormous success on children's best-seller lists since their debut. Nickelodeon discovered the books pre-publication in 1999, and snapped up the film rights, anticipating that audiences would be captivated by the adventures of the Baudelaire orphans and the wily Count Olaf. The current installment is called THE GRIM GROTTO. The series is published by HarperCollins.
Nickelodeon Movies is the feature film development and production division of Nickelodeon which produces movies for kids and their families in association with its sister Viacom company, Paramount Pictures. Nickelodeon Movies was created in 1993 to develop and produce several types of films, which include star-driven family event movies, kids first movies and animated features, all of which bring extraordinary events, characters and situations into everyday contemporary life.
Nickelodeon feature film releases have grossed more than a half billion at the box office and include the Oscar nominated "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," "Rugrats Go Wild," "The Rugrats Movie," "Snow Day," "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie," "Clockstoppers" and "The Wild Thornberrys Movie," among others. Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Movies and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production, promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and music.
