Last week, John Debney (The Passion of the Christ, Elf, The Jungle Book, Iron Man 2, The Emperor’s New Groove, Hocus Pocus) has started recording his score for the upcoming animated sequel The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. The film is directed by Derek Drymon (Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania) and features the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence and Mark Hamill. The fourth theatrical SpongeBob movie based on the series created by Stephen Hillenburg follows the title character as he faces off against “The Flying Dutchman,” a gruff and goofy ghost-pirate. Pam Brady (Lady Dynamite) and Lisa Stewart (Monsters vs. Aliens, Turbo) are producing the Nickelodeon Movies production. Debney has previously scored 2015’s second SpongeBob movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. Hans Zimmer & Steve Mazzaro composed the music for the latest installment, 2021’s Sponge on the Run. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants is scheduled to be released in theaters nationwide on December 19, 2025 by Paramount Pictures.
Debney’s upcoming projects also include the Netflix animated film In Your Dreams, which will premiere this year. He has also scored Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 2, which premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival and is currently awaiting a new release date.
This is great news. I really enjoyed Debney’s score for Sponge Out of Water, so I can’t wait to hear what he makes for this one.
No hate for John Debney; I vibe with him. But I wish they went with Hans Zimmer again
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess