Hillenburg directed the film, titled The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was theatrically released in the United States on November 19, 2004, to critical and commercial success.

In this live-action animated comedy, Plankton's plan is to steal King Neptune's crown and send it to the dangerous Shell City, and then frame Mr. Krabs for the crime.

SpongeBob and Patrick must journey to Shell City while facing several perils along the way to retrieve the crown to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and Bikini Bottom from Plankton's tyranny.

The plot follows a pirate named Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas), who steals the Krabby Patty secret formula using a magical book that makes any text written upon it come true.

Later, SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Sandy and Plankton must travel to the surface to confront Burger Beard and get the formula back before Bikini Bottom is completely destroyed.

[5][6] The film was directed by Tim Hill, who also wrote the screenplay with Michael Kvamme[7][8] from a story by Aaron Springer, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures had approached SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg for a film based on the show as early as 2001, but he refused for more than a year.

That's where the comedy's coming from, having these two naïve characters, SpongeBob and Patrick, a doofus and an idiot, on this incredibly dangerous heroic odyssey with all the odds against them.

"[26] The writers decided to write a mythical hero's quest for the 2004 film: the search for a stolen crown, which brings SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface.

[29] This was intended as a humorous reference to Finding Nemo and was later confirmed by Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob) to be a "joke" plot to keep fans busy.

[26] The first film was intended to be the series finale; Hillenburg wanted to end the franchise after the movie was completed so it "wouldn't jump the shark".

"[31][32] As a result, Hillenburg resigned as the series' showrunner,[33] appointing writer, director, and storyboard artist Paul Tibbitt to succeed him.

[38] Philippe Dauman, then president and CEO of Paramount and Viacom, announced on February 28, 2012, that a sequel film was in development and slated for a late 2014 release.

[43] In a February 2015 interview discussing The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water's success at the box office, Megan Colligan, president of worldwide distribution and marketing at Paramount Pictures, stated the possibility of a third film was "a good bet.

"[44] In another interview, Paramount vice-chairman Rob Moore remarked, "Hopefully, it won't take 10 years to make another film," in reference to the time passed between The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and its 2015 sequel.

[55][56] In February 2022, during its investor call, Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins said that they would be working on the three character-driven spin-off films and would release them exclusively on its streamer Paramount+, with the first one premiering in 2023.