‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ Moves Forward To This July

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, as the fourth and final feature in the franchise is now known, will open in theaters two weeks earlier than previously expected. Its new release date is July 23, 2021.

Sony Pictures Animation’s family feature was set for August 6, when it would have been up against Warner Bros.’s R-rated The Suicide Squad (which will launch simultaneously on HBO Max). It is now opening alongside Old, the latest horror pic from M. Night Shyamalan. It will come out a week after Space Jam: A New Legacy, another Warner Bros./HBO Max release, and Sony’s Cinderella.

Transformania was initially due to come out on December 22, 2021 before moving to August 6. With its latest move, it becomes one of several films to exploit gaps in a sparse summer. Other tentpoles are fleeing the summer theatrical release calendar, including Disney-Pixar’s Luca, which will now come out exclusively on Disney+ on June 18, and Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, which has moved from July 2, 2021 to July 1, 2022.

As previously announced, Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska will direct Transformania. Genndy Tartakovsky, who directed the first three films, is writing and executive producing. Selena Gomez, the voice of lead character Mavis Dracula, has also been upped to executive producer for this installment. Michelle Murdocca is executive-producing alongside them, and Alice Dewey Goldstone is producing.

The three Hotel Transylvania films to date have grossed over $1.3 billion globally. The franchise will feature as part of the soon-to-be-relaunched Aquaverse theme park in Thailand.