That pineapple under the sea is getting pretty crowded.
Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation on Tuesday unveiled new cast additions for their upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants movie, with Regina Hall, Sherry Cola, Arturo Castro, George Lopez and Ice Spice joining the ensemble. The four-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling rapper will also contribute an original song to the film.
They join returning cast members Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) and Mark Hamill (Flying Dutchman) in the feature directed Derek Drymon and written by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman.
The log line for the film has SpongeBob and friends journeying to the depths of the ocean to face the ghost of the Flying Dutchman. The film is set for a December release.
Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, made the cast reveal at a studio showcase at the Annecy international animation festival in France on Tuesday. The event included sneak peeks at upcoming Paramount and Nickelodeon features and series, including Chris Miller’s Smurfs movie, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2.
Drymon presented the complete first act of The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, and Miller showed the opening 20 minutes of Smurfs, which will bow theatrically on July 18. Smurfs starsRihanna as Smurfette — who Miller said exhibited “a deep knowledge of Smurf lore, she knew way more than I did.” The film’s voice cast includes John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Sandra Oh, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Sedaris, Daniel Levy, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña, Marshmello, Jimmy Kimmel and Kurt Russell.
The event concluded with the premiere of two animated shorts. SpongeBob: Order Up, directed by Sean Charmatz will screen theatrically ahead of Smurfs this July. Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles short directed by Kent Seki, will premiere alongside The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants in December.