The Hotel Transylvania franchise is booking a trip to Amazon Prime: The upcoming fourth movie Hotel Transylvania: Transformania will skip a theatrical release and premiere on the streamer instead, our sister site Variety is reporting.
Amazon and producers Sony Pictures Animation are nearing a $100 million deal for the global streaming rights to the animated film, which was originally set to hit theaters Oct. 1. (There’s no word yet on when the film will debut on Amazon Prime.) Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid spread of the delta variant, studios are rethinking theatrical rollouts once again. The Hotel Transylvania franchise’s kid-friendly focus is a factor as well: COVID vaccines are not yet approved for children under 12, and New York City has enacted a vaccine mandate for indoor venues like movie theaters, with several more cities expected to follow soon.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is being billed as the final installment in the popular franchise, which has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide so far. In the fourth film, Dracula and his monster pals are transformed into humans, while human Johnny is transformed into a dragon. Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Molly Shannon, Steve Buscemi, Fran Drescher and David Spade all return to reprise their roles, with Brian Hull replacing Adam Sandler as the voice of Dracula and Brad Abrell replacing Kevin James as the voice of Frankenstein.
