‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ Heads To The Fall

UPDATED, 2:08: Sony is moving its four-quel to October 1. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was slated to go this summer, on July 23. Some of this could have to do with the fact that the domestic marketplace isn’t fully back yet: Portions of Canada remain closed, and capacity restrictions average around 66% — this despite the fact that L.A. and NYC are at 100% this weekend. The studio just tried to open Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, which it kept safe for a pure theatrical release during the pandemic, but families didn’t rush out to see it, with the sequel opening to $10.1M. Peter Rabbit 2 already has done $58M abroad.

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania moves off a very busy weekend where Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old is squaring off with Paramount’s Snake Eyes, among major studio fare. Transformania moves to a weekend where Warner Bros./HBO has Legendary’s Dune, but also a place where United Artists Releasing has MGM’s The Addams Family 2. Yikes, will Transformania move again?

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Hotel Transylvania is a prized franchise by the Culver City lot, having earned $1.3 billion worldwide over the first three installments.

PREVIOUSLY, April 9: Sony’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania aka Hotel Transylvania 4 will now open on July 23 instead of Aug. 6.

More and more studios are taking advantage of the gaps in the summer theatrical release calendar. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania moves off a weekend where it was against Warner Bros./HBO Max’s R-rated The Suicide Squad on Aug. 6 to a new weekend where it’s up against Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. In its new slot, the Sony Animated pic is in a position to open the weekend before Disney’s Dwyane Johnson movie Jungle Cruise. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is also set to open the weekend after Warner Bros./HBO Max’s July 16 family release Space Jam: A New Legacy, and Sony’s own Cinderella.

The movie is the final chapter in Sony Pictures Animation’s $1.3 billion film franchise which has spawned three movies beginning in 2012. The fourthquel is being directed by Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon, written by Genndy Tartakovsky, produced by Alice Dewey Goldstone and executive produced by Selena Gomez, Genndy Tartakovsky and Michelle Murdocca.

Sony Pictures recently announced it is opening its first theme and water park with Amazon Falls, Aquaverse, in the seaside town of Bangsaray, Thailand. The theme park will feature a Hotel Transylvania Kid-Friendly Zone, set to be one of the park’s biggest attractions with over 100 water features, splash buckets, water rockets and more.

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