Hotel Transylvania: Transformania Skipping Theaters, Will Be Released By Amazon Video – Report

Sony and Amazon are close to signing a deal for the animated movie Hotel Transylvania: Transformania to stream globally on Prime Video. As reported by Variety, the deal is worth over $100 million.

The news follows reports last week that Sony was looking to move the release date of two of its big fall movies, Venom: Let there be Carnage and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, following a rise of COVID-19 infections in the US. But while the Venom sequel is moving back a few weeks to October 15, it is still maintaining an exclusive theatrical release. However, Sony has opted to release Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, which will attract a much younger demographic, via Amazon. Variety states that Sony has retained the rights for home entertainment, linear TV, and a theatrical release in China.

Unlike many of its rivals such as Disney, Paramount, and Warner, Sony doesn't have its own streaming platform. Earlier this year, it signed a deal with Netflix to release its movies after they leave theaters, and throughout the pandemic, it has sold its films to a variety of other services, including The Greyhound to Apple TV+, An American Pickle to HBO Max, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines to Netflix.

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was originally set for December 2020 release. It was subsequently moved to July this year, and then to October. The movie stars Andy Sandberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, and David Spade.

The first Hotel Transylvania film was released in 2012, and the series has grossed over $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office so far. There has also been a Hotel Transylvania animated Disney Channel show, two short films, and several video games.