Film · in order
SpongeBob Movies in Order
There are six SpongeBob movies: four mainline films from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) to Search for SquarePants (2025), plus two Netflix spinoffs, the Sandy Cheeks movie (2024) and Plankton: The Movie (2025). Release order works, and every film stands alone.
SpongeBob Movies in Order: complete list
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Why this order?
The real job of this page is disambiguation, because three of the four mainline films are called The SpongeBob Movie: colon something. In release order: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004, the David Hasselhoff one), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015, the superhero one), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020 in Canadian theaters, 2021 on Paramount+ in the US thanks to COVID, the Keanu-as-a-tumbleweed one), and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (December 19, 2025, the one where SpongeBob sails into the Flying Dutchman's realm). Between the last two, Netflix ran a spinoff lane: Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024) and Plankton: The Movie (2025). Every one of them is self-contained; release order is just the tidiest shelf.
A fun piece of history explains the franchise's shape: the 2004 movie was conceived as the series finale, which is why it plays like a grand send-off, and the show simply kept going afterward for another two decades. Continuity has never been the point; vibes are canon.
On the newest film: Search for SquarePants opened small ($15.6 million, the franchise's lowest opening) but legged out to $169 million worldwide on a $64 million budget, with the franchise's best-ever Rotten Tomatoes score at 85 percent, a genuine late-life critical peak. As for what is next: the only announced project is an undated, music-driven Squidward movie for Netflix, so nothing in the pipeline has a date. The TV side (Kamp Koral, the chronologically earliest content, and The Patrick Star Show) is a separate lane our guide treats as optional dessert.
Timeline 2004-2025
Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.
- 2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
- 11-year gap
- 2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
- 5-year gap
- 2020 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
- 4-year gap
- 2024 Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
- 2025 Plankton: The MovieThe SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Where to play it today
- The theatrical films live on Paramount+ (Search for SquarePants joined after its theatrical window); the two spinoffs are Netflix originals
- The shows, including Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show, stream on Paramount+
Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for SpongeBob SquarePants.
Frequently asked questions
How many SpongeBob movies are there?
Six: four mainline films (2004, 2015, 2020, 2025) and two Netflix spinoffs (the Sandy Cheeks movie in 2024, Plankton: The Movie in 2025). All are self-contained.
What order should I watch the SpongeBob movies in?
Release order, listed on this page, purely for tidiness: every film stands alone, so you can genuinely start anywhere. The order matters less than knowing which near-identical title is which.
Which SpongeBob movie is which?
2004 is the original with David Hasselhoff; Sponge Out of Water (2015) is the superhero one; Sponge on the Run (2020) is the Keanu Reeves one; Search for SquarePants (2025) is the Flying Dutchman adventure. The Netflix pair star Sandy (2024) and Plankton (2025).
Was the first SpongeBob movie supposed to be the ending?
Yes: the 2004 film was conceived as the series finale, which is why it plays like a farewell. The show returned anyway and has now outlived that ending by more than two decades.
Is the new SpongeBob movie good?
Critics say yes, surprisingly: Search for SquarePants (December 2025) holds 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the franchise's best film score. It opened low ($15.6 million) but reached $169 million worldwide on a $64 million budget.
What is the next SpongeBob movie?
The only announced project is a music-driven Squidward movie for Netflix, with no date. Nothing else in the film pipeline is dated as of mid-2026.
Where do Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show fit?
Kamp Koral is the prequel series spun off from Sponge on the Run's flashbacks, making it the chronologically earliest content; The Patrick Star Show is a standalone spinoff sitcom. Both are optional TV-side extras, not movie prerequisites.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, rottentomatoes.com, Wikidata
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