This is alist of unmade and unreleased animated projects byParamount Pictures. Some of these projects were, or still are, indevelopment limbo. These also include the co-productions the studio collaborated with in the past (i.e.Fleischer Studios,MTV Animation,Nickelodeon Movies,Nickelodeon Animation Studio,DreamWorks Animation, andParamount Animation) as well as sequels to their franchises.
| Contents: | 1990s:1993 · 1995 · 1998 |
|---|
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature films | Film deal withNelvana | In the fall of 1993, Canadian animation studioNelvana signed a multi-year deal to produce five animated feature films in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, withKathleen Kennedy andFrank Marshall producing; the first two began production the following summer, at a cost of over US$20 million each.[1][2] Three of the projects were based on books byE. B. White (The Trumpet of the Swan),Clive Barker (The Thief of Always) andGraeme Base (The Sign of the Seahorse); an original production calledMask Vision was also in the works.[3] However, none of the films were produced in this deal. However of the projects, one project based on the book,The Trumpet of the Swan, would end up beingproduced forTriStar Pictures byRichard Rich in 2001, only for it to be a critical and commercial failure. |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | Elmo Aardvark film adaptation | Shortly after the release of the 1995Elmo Aardvark album,Will Ryan was approached byNickelodeon Movies about starring the Elmo character in a feature film. Ryan and writerPhil Lollar developed afilm treatment for amockumentary tracing Elmo's fictional history as a cartoon character, from pre-film origins to the present day some hundred years later. The mockumentary, potentially titledThe Elmo Aardvark Story, would feature live-action interviews with figures who would add historical credibility, such as golden-age animatorWard Kimball; these would be interspersed with clips of the Elmo cartoons that had supposedly been produced through the ages, animated in period-appropriate styles.[4] DesignerLeslie Cabarga prepared promotional art, whileFayard Nicholas,Joanie Sommers, and"Weird Al" Yankovic were in talks to contribute to the soundtrack. However, negotiations with Nickelodeon administrators became slow-moving, and after a lengthy "development hell" period, the project fell through.[4] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | Bone | In August 1998, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies acquired the rights to produce an animated film adaptation of theBone comics.[5]Jeff Smith, author of theBone comics, stated in a 2003 interview that Nickelodeon had insisted on the Bone cousins being voiced by child actors and wanted the film's soundtrack to includepop songs by the likes ofN'Sync. Smith's response was that nobody would insert pop songs in the middle ofThe Lord of the Rings orThe Empire Strikes Back and therefore pop songs should not be placed inBone either.[6] The film was then developed atWarner Bros. under theirWarner Animation Group banner instead. However, in 2019,Netflix purchased the rights to turnBone into an animated series, which was later cancelled in April 2022 during a reorganization ofNetflix Animation.[7][8][9] |
| Hey Arnold! | Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie | In 1998, Nickelodeon offeredHey Arnold! creatorCraig Bartlett a chance to develop two feature-length films based on the series: one as a TV movie or direct-to-video and another slated for a theatrical release. Nickelodeon asked Bartlett to do "the biggest idea he could think of" for the theatrical film.Albie Hecht, who was president of Nickelodeon at the time, suggested to Bartlett about making the theatrical feature as a spiritual sequel/follow-up to the episode "Parents Day", and have Arnold try to solve the mystery of what happened to his parents. Though after successful test screenings of the made-for-TV movie titledArnold Saves the Neighborhood, it was decided that it would instead be given a theatrical release in 2002, under the title ofHey Arnold!: The Movie to attract the attention of the public. Around this time, Hecht also asked Bartlett to produce a special one-hour 'prequel' episode titled "The Journal" that would serve as a lead-in to the second movie. The episode debuted on November 11, 2002. But due to the disappointing box office results of the first film,Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie was cancelled and ended up leaving the original series with an unresolved cliffhanger ending. The project was later revived as a two-hour TV film that debuted on November 24, 2017. |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | Jimmy Neutron 2 | In February 2002, a sequel forJimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was reported in development for a summer 2004 release.[10] ProducerAlbie Hecht reported toTheLos Angeles Times that the sequel "would be made on the same budget as the first, but with a new batch of inventions and adventures in Jimmy's town of Retroville." On June 20, 2002,The Hollywood Reporter reported that writerKate Boutilier had signed a writing deal with Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures to write a sequel, but it never materialized.[11] The film was cancelled because the writers could not agree on a story and Alcorn later stated in an interview that "once the TV series came out, there was not a lot of incentive to make a movie when fans could simply watchJimmy Neutron for free at home."[12] |
| Feature film | Imaginary Friend | In March 2002, it was announced that Nickelodeon Movies would produceImaginary Friend, aGary Ross-helmed live-action/animated hybrid about a boy and his imaginary friend who takes him from the real world to an animated fantasy world. Written byAnne Spielberg, the film would’ve reunited Ross and Spielberg after scripting the 1988Oscar-nominatedBig. Would have been produced by Nickelodeon and Ross' Larger Than Life.[13][14] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mighty Mouse | UntitledMighty Mouse animated film adaptation | As early as 2004,Omation Animation Studios and Nickelodeon announced their intention to bringMighty Mouse (a property held byCBS Corporation) back to the big screen with aCGI feature film withSteve Oedekerk ofOmation Animation Studio to produce and direct that was tentatively scheduled to be released sometime in 2013.[15] This film never materialized and the project's fate was unknown until in 2019, when it was confirmed that the project would be revived byParamount Animation, and that Jon and Erich Hoeber were announced to be the writers for the film,[16][17] and in November 2024,Ryan Reynolds confirmed he will be co-writing and producing it under his own production company,Maximum Effort.[18] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Fairly OddParents | UntitledFairly OddParents animated film | In 2005 or 2006,Butch Hartman considered making a theatrical adaptation of his animated television seriesThe Fairly OddParents after the show's initial cancellation in 2006,[vague] to be produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures. The film was to be animated much like the series as well as previous Nickelodeon fare such as theRugrats trilogy andThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, but was scrapped due toa management change at Paramount although the script was already written. Despite this, Hartman expressed interest in releasing the filmfor DVD someday, and stated that the script could serve for anotherTV movie of the show. The series ended on July 26, 2017, and Butch Hartman left Nickelodeon in early 2018,[19][20] seemingly ending any chances of the film happening.[21] |
| Smurfs | The Smurfs | In 2006, Paramount obtained the film rights toThe Smurfs comics byPeyo and were planning to make a film based on the characters with Nickelodeon Movies. It was described to be an "epic-comedic fantasy", likeThe Lord of the Rings meetsThe Princess Bride.[22] Early animation footage was leaked on the internet in early 2008.[23] The film never came to be untilSony Pictures Animation bought the rights thus turning it into the2011 live-action animated film of the same name, followed bya sequel in 2013 and a fully animated film,Smurfs: The Lost Village, in 2017.[24] After the release ofThe Lost Village, Sony's film rights had ended and in February 2022, it was reported that Lafig S.A. and IMPS, now known as Peyo Company, the owners of theSmurfs brand, had agreed to a partnership withParamount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies to produce multiple animatedSmurfs films, with the first project being a musical.[25] The film ended up becoming the critically pannedSmurfs that was released on July 18, 2025, and starringRihanna. |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | The New Kid | Announced on June 2, 2011,Paramount Pictures had acquired the rights to produce an animated film, viaParamount Animation to make this, of thePenny Arcade one-off stripThe New Kid which was published on October 29, 2010. The strip was one of three mini-strips which featured a cinematic opening to a larger story left unexplored.[26]The New Kid is about a boy who is moving to a new planet with his family because of his father's career.[27] The script was written byGary Whitta and would have been produced byMary Parent andCale Boyter.[28] At PAX Australia in 2016, during a Q&A session, Holkins revealed that changes at Paramount resulted in the movie rights being returned to Penny Arcade and the project canceled. He did note, however, that Whitta's script was complete and the project could move forward with another production company in the future.[29] |
| The Adventures of Tintin | The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun | In November 2011,Steven Spielberg announced a sequel to the 2011 filmThe Adventures of Tintin and was planned to be released sometime in the future.[30] As of 2019, there have been little to no info about the film, butPeter Jackson is still involved with the project.[31][32] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | Shedd/Fin | In January 2014, it was reported that formerDisney andPixar animatorJohn Kahrs would direct forParamount Animation an animated film titledShedd, which was based on an original idea byAdam Goodman.[33] |
| Ren & Stimpy | UntitledRen & Stimpy short film | Bob Camp and William Wray revealed in an April 2016 panel discussion that Kricfalusi was developing a newRen & Stimpy short that would be shown in theaters with thethirdSpongeBob SquarePants film, and later said that they were "not invited to that party" and would not be involved with the short's production.[34] However, Kricfalusi later denied making such a cartoon onTwitter.[35] Despite this, ananimatic of the short that was originally made as a promotion forThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water before being cancelled was released as a bonus feature on theCans Without Labels DVD in May 2019.[36][37] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | Giant Monsters Attack Japan | Originally announced in 2006 as a live-actionNickelodeon Movies production fromMatt Stone andTrey Parker, the film moved to Paramount Animation in 2015 with a script written byMatt Lieberman.[38] |
| Bodacious | Announced in October 2015 as an animated feature produced byEddie Murphy based on theinfamous bull of the same name.[39] | |
| Untitled sci-fi film | Paramount Animation acquired the rights to an untitled sci-fi pitch from screenwriterDavid Frigerio in October 2015, which was described as "tonallyCars set in space".[40] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | UntitledNicktoons film | On January 27, 2016, a crossover film involving various classic Nicktoons characters was reported to be in development.Jared Hess was attached to direct, as well as co-write with his wife Jerusha. The film was said to be similar toWho Framed Roger Rabbit.[41] In a later interview in September 2016, Hess said that the script was complete and submitted for approval.[42] No word on development has been reported since. |
| The Flamingo Affair | Announced in June 2016 as a co-production withJ.J. Abrams throughBad Robot with a script written byPamela Pettler. The film was described as a comedicOcean's Eleven–style heist film with animals inLas Vegas.[43] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wonder Park | Adventures in Wonder Park | Prior toWonder Park's release, Paramount Animation announced a television series based on the film, titledAdventures in Wonder Park, to debut onNickelodeon after the film's theatrical release.[44] Although a trailer for the series was attached to the Blu-ray release of the film, and its first season, consisting of 20 episodes, was completed between 2019 and early 2020, there have been no updates from Nickelodeon on the project as of 2023. The animatic of the pilot was later posted online in December 2022.[45] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | Monument Valley | In August 2018,Paramount Animation andWeed Road, in partnership withUstwo Games, announced plans to develop a live action/CGI hybrid film based on the indie gameMonument Valley, withPatrick Osborne slated to direct. It was anticipated that the film would feature live actors exploring the computer generated settings based on the game. Osborne stated "I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything".[46] |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feature film | The Shrinking of Treehorn | As of 2019, an animated film adaptation of the children's bookThe Shrinking of Treehorn directed byRon Howard is said to be in development. The animation would be done byAnimal Logic and distributed byParamount Pictures under itsParamount Animation label.[47] By April 9, 2021, the film's release date was scheduled for November 10, 2023.[48] However, on May 16, 2022, it was announced that the film had been acquired byNetflix with Howard'sImagine Entertainment as its production studio.[49] |
| UntitledSpice Girls film | Speaking in January 2019, following the announcement of theSpice Girls reunion tour, Simon Fuller confirmed plans to make ananimated sequel toSpice World.[50] On June 13, 2019, it was reported thatParamount Animation presidentMireille Soria had greenlit the project, with all five members of the band returning. The project would be produced bySimon Fuller, withKaren McCullah andKiki Smith writing the screenplay, and would feature both previous and original songs.[51] The film would feature the band assuperheroes.[52] There have been no updates on the project since. |
