Top Story: A Historic Box Office Weekend: Five Of The Top Ten Films Are Animated Features

In a move that expands Viacom-owned Nickelodeon’s relationship with Netflix, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish revealed during an analyst call this week that it has finalized a new deal with the streaming giant for the production of animated features based on two of its “most important properties.”

Under this agreement, Nickelodeon Studios is set to create original films based on The Loud House and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Turtles television series. Skipping theatrical distribution, the long-form content will be released directly on Netflix’s platform. “This is both incremental business and powerful promotion for the two franchises,” Bakish said.

On the call, Bakish made it clear this deal is exclusively related to the films and will not affect the series’ successful runs on the Nickelodeon channel.

Despite the positive take on the studio’s future, a few weeks ago Nickelodeon halted production on additional episodes of their upcoming Glitch Techs series, laying off numerous staff from its Burbank studio.

Earlier this year, Nick’s Pinky Malinky, which had wrapped up production significantly earlier, debuted on Netflix following the studio’s decision to sell the show rather than program it as part of its own slate.

No release dates for the two features have been set, but Paramount Animation recently pulled The Loud House Movie from its February 2020 theatrical release date. That earlier date could serve as an indication about when the project will be ready to debut on Netflix.

Carlos Aguilar

Carlos Aguilar is a contributing writer to Cartoon Brew.

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