'VeggieTales' to Sprout Another Movie

Artisan Entertainment is dishing up a second "VeggieTales" cartoon, "The Bob and Larry Movie," which revisits the computer-generated exploits of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. The picture is set for a 2005 release.

The New York-based film distributor has grossed a solid $24 million-plus domestically with the Biblical cartoon "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie," which opened theatrically in October and heads to home video in March. \

Artisan acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to both cartoons by agreeing to cover only prints and advertising, which amounted to $15 million for "Jonah" and figures to run about the same on "Bob and Larry."

The films are produced by Chicago-based family entertainment company Big Idea, which anticipates "Bob and Larry" will cost in the $20 million-$25 million range to make, a bit north of the estimated $14 million negative cost on "Jonah" due to the inclusion of some computer-generated human characters in the new pic.

Big Idea has a long-running history with the "VeggieTales" franchise in direct-to-video release. The biblical backdrop to most of the series has made the "Veggies" a video store fave with Christian constituencies, and Artisan also marketed the "Jonah" movie heavily through church groups with assistance from Big Idea.

"'VeggieTales' always had an established audience, and the question was whether they would come to the theaters to watch it," said Glenn Ross, president of Artisan's family entertainment division. "The answer is obviously that they will."