Development

On October 4, 2017, 20th Century Fox announced that a film adaptation based on the Fox animated series Bob's Burgers was in development, and it was scheduled to be released on July 17, 2020.^[9] On October 30, 2017, Vanessa Morrison, who became the president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division, Fox Family, was also chosen to oversee production on the film.^[10]

Series creator Loren Bouchard had said the film would "scratch every itch the fans of the show have ever had", while also appealing to new audiences.^[11] On July 18, 2018, Bouchard said that the script was submitted and accepted by the studios. The film is a musical comedy.^[12] On September 24, 2020, star H. Jon Benjamin confirmed that work on the film was being done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also revealing that recording for the film has already begun,^[13] with the cast reprising their roles from the television series.

Bouchard said the budget for the film was $38 million and estimated that an additional $20 million was spent on marketing.^[3]

Animation

Animation services were provided by Tonic DNA,^[14] Lighthouse Studios, Bento Box Entertainment, Golden Wolf, Yeson Ententainment, Brilliant Pictures, Synergy Animation, Mighty Animation, Dave Enterprises, and Mercury Filmworks. The production team wanted the film to be mostly done through hand-drawn animation because they wanted the visuals to remain similar to the series.^[15] The larger budget, time, and animators available to the filmmakers allowed the animation to be more detailed than in the original series, such as adding more light, texture, and shadows into several shots.^[15] This film would be the final animation work for both Tuck Tucker and Dale Baer before their deaths on December 22, 2020, and January 15, 2021, respectively. Tucker served as a storyboard revisionist, while Baer provided animation for the film.^[16][17][18] Mercury Filmworks also worked with Cartoon Saloon to help with the animation, through Lighthouse Studios.^[19]

Tonic DNA, who were hired due to already working with Bento Box Entertainment on the animated series Central Park, was originally set to work only in musical numbers, before being assigned two additional sequences. Animators at Tonic DNA used both hand-drawn and cutout animation techniques for the film, with both being simultaneously used in certain sequences, particularly the "Lucky Ducks" musical number.^{[citation needed]}

Theatrical

The Bob's Burgers Movie premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on May 17, 2022^[21] and was theatrically released in the United States on May 27, 2022. It was initially scheduled to be released in theaters on July 17, 2020. The film was then briefly pulled from the schedule due to an error in listings.^[22] In announcing revised released dates of various films due to the global health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney announced that the film's release had been pushed back to April 9, 2021.^[23] On January 22, 2021, the film was completely removed from the release schedule.^[24] Bouchard explained that despite the film still being in production, a new release date announcement was not imminent and would not come until audiences felt completely safe coming back to theaters.^[25] On September 10, 2021, it was officially set for a Memorial Day weekend release date of May 27, 2022.^[26] In some countries however, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Mexico, Italy, and Israel, a theatrical release of the film did not end up happening at all despite there already being marked release dates for said countries, with the film instead premiering directly on Disney+ later on July 13, 2022, in those regions and on Star+ July 20, 2022, in Mexico.^[27]

Home media

The Bob's Burgers Movie was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 19, 2022, by 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment. Bonus features include an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and the animated short My Butt Has a Fever.^[28][29]

The Bob's Burgers Movie was also released digitally on July 12, through digital purchase on PVOD platforms and on Hulu and HBO Max in the United States on July 12, after Disney reached a deal with WarnerMedia in December 2021 for a majority of the upcoming films from 20th Century Studios to be streamed collaboratively between Disney+, HBO Max and Hulu until HBO's deal with 20th Century, signed in 2012 before Disney's acquisition of the company, runs out at the end of 2022.^{[28][30][31][32]} The film was released on Disney+ (under the Star hub) in Canada on July 12 and in Europe (excluding Poland, due to a distribution deal with Canal+ Poland for titles from 20th Century Studios), the Middle East, and Africa on July 13, while in Latin America, the film was released on Star+ on July 20.^[33]

SVOD viewership

According to Whip Media, The Bob's Burgers Movie was the 2nd most watched film across all platforms in the United States during the week of July 15, 2022.^[34] According to Nielsen, The Bob's Burgers Movie was the 5th most watched film across all platforms during the week of July 17, 2022.^[35][36]

Box office

The Bob's Burgers Movie grossed $32 million in North America, and $2.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $34.2 million.^[4][5]

In North America, the film was released alongside Top Gun: Maverick, and was projected to gross $10–15 million from 3,400 theaters in its opening weekend.^[37] The film made $5.7 million on its first day, including $1.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut at $12.4 million (and $14.8 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame), finishing third at the box office.^[38] The film stayed in the box office top ten until its sixth weekend.^[39]

Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $700,000 from 54 international markets in its opening weekend.^[40] It made $400,000 from eight markets in its second weekend.^[41]

Bouchard acknowledged that the film's budget had not been formally disclosed and stated on Twitter that its production was $38 million.^[3] The film's box office earnings performed well in its own terms: Forbes highlighted that it earned $15 million in its first four days, despite expecting to earn $10 million at most.^[42] Deadline noted that around 1.1 million people watched it over its first weekend, comparable to the 1.3 million weekly regular viewers of the television series, and described the film as niche.^[38]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 146 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Bob's Burgers Movie offers all the heart, humor, and clever callbacks that fans of the show will be looking for while remaining an entertaining entry point for the unconverted."^[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[44] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 89% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[38]

Accolades