ViacomCBS revealed a slew of new Nickelodeon projects that will premiere on Paramount+, comprising three SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff movies and a new live-action Dora the Explorer series, among other things.
According to Variety, the new projects were revealed on Feb. 15 during ViacomCBS’ investor day. In addition to a fourth SpongeBob SquarePants feature now is on the way, three additional SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff films, each is around a different character from Bikini Bottom, will be released starting off in 2023, with the first of these films premiering in 2019. Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon Animation will be responsible for the production of the movie.
Two SpongeBob spinoff series, The Patrick Star show, and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, will premiere on Paramount+ in 2021, after the introduction of two SpongeBob spinoff films in the same year. A total of 52 combined episodes for both shows were ordered in August 2021. Another announcement made during ViacomCBS’ investor day was the development of a live-action Dora the Explorer series, which will be based on the live-action film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which is set to be released in 2019. The live-action series was initially revealed at the last ViacomCBS investor day in February 2021, and it would premiere in the fall of that year. Dora will also be the subject of a new computer-animated television series beginning in 2023.
Brian Robbins, chief content officer, Movies and Kids & Family for Paramount Plus shared “As we’ve known with Nickelodeon’s long-standing success, the kids and family audience is incredibly loyal, and we see that on Paramount Plus as well, with kids and family ranking as one of the strongest genres on the service in terms of both engagement and subscriber acquisition”. He added, “So as they stay for our shows and look for even more of them, we’re doubling down on giving them what they want by expanding the universes of the characters they love the best.”
Additionally, a series of animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films was announced, with each feature focused on a different TMNT franchise villain. They will premiere on Paramount+ in 2023, about the time when Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s TMNT revival, directed by Jeff Rowe, is expected to hit theaters.
“Our Kids and Family content is not only bringing young audiences to Paramount+ but it’s also a key component in retaining our existing subscriber base and expanding their viewership habits,” Tanya Giles, chief programming officer for ViacomCBS Streaming stated. “Paramount Plus is a service for the whole household and we’re now seeing nearly half of our subscribers engaging with kids and family content on the service, a double-digit gain over last year.”
In 2023, Paramount+ will release the three SpongeBob spinoff films and the live-action and CG Dora the Explorer adaptations.
