COVID-19 has affected a ton of May releases, including one featuring everyone’s favorite Nickelodeon character, Spongebob Squarepants. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On the Run was delayed from May 22nd, 2020 to July 31st, 2020 due to the recent pandemic. However, the film has now dealt with yet another delay, though fortunately not by much. As now the upcoming Nickelodeon movie will be released on August 7th 2020. 

The film will now be taking the place of the Mark Walhberg lead sci-fi film Infinite, which has been delayed to May 28th, 2021. Not much has been stated on why Spongebob was delayed again since the first delay was a direct result from the pandemic. It could only be assumed that, with other studios adjusting their release schedule with Disney releasing Mulan on July 24th, Paramount most likely wanted to avoid some of the competition, as Sponge on the Run was initially set to come out the week after Mulan.

The downside is that Sponge Out of Water will be the first major animated theatrical release since Onward. There are currently no major animated films set to come out prior to August, as Soul, Scoob and Minions 2: Rise of Gru were all delayed from their original summer 2020 schedules. While many argue that the summer movie season is already lacking due to the shifted release dates, it seems more disappointing for animation lovers. Hopefully if things ease up by August, animation fans will be able to go to a theater to witness another humorous adventure with Spongebob and friends.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run is set for release August 7th 2020.