One of the big animation casualties of the coronavirus is back on its feet. Three weeks after the theatrical release of Paramount Animation’s The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run was cancelled, news has broken that Netflix will bring the film to the world.
The deal excludes China, where Netflix doesn’t operate, as well as the U.S., where the film will debut next year on premium VOD then move exclusively to CBS All Access, Paramount’s sister subscription VOD service (both are owned by ViacomCBS). Paramount reportedly plans to release the film in Canada, after which Netflix will stream the film in the country. Variety first reported the news.
While no date has been announced for the overseas release, Netflix is not obliged to wait until the film comes out in the U.S. Representatives for Netflix and ViacomCBS did not immediately reply to Variety’s request for comment.