If The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was produced by Walt Disney Pictures

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American live-action/animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The film was co-written, directed, and produced by series creator Stephen Hillenburg, with live-action sequences directed by Mark Osborne, and features the series' cast of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass and Mr. Lawrence, while also starring Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor, Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff. It was produced by Hillenburg's production company United Plankton Pictures, Rough Draft Korea as the animation studio, Nickelodeon Movies and Walt Disney Pictures and released in theaters by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The events of the movie take place at the end of the series. It is the first film in the SpongeBob SquarePants film series. In this film, Plankton devises a plan to discredit his business rival Mr. Krabs by stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs for the crime. SpongeBob and Patrick must retrieve the crown from Shell City to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and the oceanic world from Plankton's plan.

Previous offers by Paramount Pictures for a film adaptation of SpongeBob SquarePants had been rejected by Stephen Hillenburg, but he eventually accepted one offer in 2002. A writing team consisting of Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne and Tim Hill was assembled, conceiving the idea of a mythical hero's quest and the search for a stolen crown, which would bring SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface. The film was originally intended as the series finale, but Nickelodeon ordered more episodes of the series as it had become increasingly profitable, so Hillenburg resigned as showrunner with Tibbitt taking his place.

The film was widely promoted by The Walt Disney Comapy and Nickelodeon, with tie-in promotions made by 7-Eleven, the Cayman Islands and Burger King, which decorated various of its franchises with 9-foot (2.7 m) SpongeBob inflatable figures. The film was a box office success, grossing $140 million worldwide,[3] and received generally positive reviews from critics.

A stand-alone sequel titled The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released on February 6, 2015, and a second sequel titled The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge is scheduled for a release of July 17, 2020.