Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania franchise has scared $1.3 billion from the pockets of families around the world since the first film launched in 2012, but appears that the next chunk of change might have to be wire-transferred from Amazon Studios, because it’s being reported that Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is skipping a theatrical release altogether and heading to Prime Video for $100 million.
According to Variety discussions are in place to find a new home for the Adam Sandler animation because of the rise in cases of the Delta variant, which has hit the family film-going demographic of the industry quite hard, causing some theatres to require a vaccine mandate for indoor venues. This obviously prevents the ankle biters who’d usually be dragging their parents along to such animated fare from attending, which has prompted Sony to explore other avenues for the intended October 1st release.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania features a voice cast that includes Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez. Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Brian Hull, Asher Blinkoff, Brad Abrell, Fran Drescher, Jim Gaffigan, and Molly Shannon.
Drac and the pack are back, like you’ve never seen them before in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. Reunite with your favorite monsters for an all-new adventure that presents Drac with his most terrifying task yet. When Van Helsing’s mysterious invention, the “Monsterfication Ray,” goes haywire, Drac and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny becomes a monster! In their new mismatched bodies, Drac, stripped of his powers, and an exuberant Johnny, loving life as a monster, must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it’s too late, and before they drive each other crazy. With help from Mavis and the hilariously human Drac Pack, the heat is on to find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is still scheduled for an October 1st release, but watch this space….