Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon MGM Studios are reviving one of animation’s most reliable moneymakers, officially confirming a fifth “Hotel Transylvania” film titled “The Haunting of Hotel Transylvania” for an October 8, 2027, theatrical release. The announcement marks the franchise’s return to movie theaters after its previous entry skipped cinemas entirely during the pandemic.
The new installment finds Dracula settled into retirement while his daughter Mavis runs the family’s monster-friendly resort. A wave of unexplained, spooky occurrences at the hotel sends the extended Drac Pack chasing down the source of the disturbances. Jennifer Kluska and Alan Hawkins will direct, with Lawrence Jonas producing and franchise veterans Genndy Tartakovsky and Michelle Murdocca serving as executive producers.
Sony Pictures Animation presidents Kristine Belson and Damien de Froberville framed the project as a continuation of the studio’s signature style. “These films have been a cornerstone of Sony Animation’s storytelling identity, blending a unique visual style with heartfelt, character-driven comedy,” they said in a joint statement. Amazon MGM’s head of film, Courtenay Valenti, called the series “a beloved tradition for families around the world” and pointed to its mix of comedy and warmth as the reason for its staying power.
The financial arrangement behind the sequel traces back to pandemic-era disruption. Sony originally developed “Hotel Transylvania” as an in-house property, but when theaters shut down, the studio licensed the fourth film, “Transformania,” to Amazon for a Prime Video debut in 2022. That deal gave Amazon MGM a co-producing stake in whatever came next.
Under the new arrangement, Sony will handle North American distribution and select international markets, while Amazon MGM takes charge of release in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand.
The first three films built the franchise into a box-office fixture, grossing a combined $1.36 billion worldwide between 2012 and 2018, with each entry outperforming the last. Whether that trajectory resumes will depend partly on voice casting, which has not yet been announced.
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Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez have anchored the series as Dracula and Mavis since its inception, though Sandler sat out “Transformania” due to scheduling conflicts, with Brian Hull filling in as Dracula. Keegan-Michael Key, another longtime cast member, first hinted at a fifth film’s development during a January interview at the Golden Globes.
