SpongeBob is coming back to the big screen, and he’s coming back in style. The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants will make its debut at the AFI Fest. 

This is far from the first time SpongeBob has traveled from Bikini Bottom to theater screens. After cinematic adventures in 2004 and 2015, SpongeBob and Patrick are back and journeying the sea to track down the ghost of the Flying Dutchman. 

Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke return as the voices of SpongeBob and Patrick, alongside series regulars Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, and Carolyn Lawrence. Mark Hamill is returning to the franchise to voice the Flying Dutchman in place of Brian Doyle-Murray, who voiced the character since season one of the show. 

The AFI Fest has slated the film to be one of the final projects to be screened there. With it serving as the world premiere for Search For SquarePants, Hollywood Reporter notes that it will debut alongside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Chrome Alone 2: Lost In New Jersey, a new TMNT short from the same team behind Mutant Mayhem. 

The AFI president, Bob Gazzale, leaned full tilt into the SpongeBob spirit when discussing the premiere. “Spongebob is an American icon – absorbent and yellow and porous is he — and AFI is honored to host this celebration under the sea,” he said. 

The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants hits theaters December 19th.