Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania has been granted an April 3 theatrical release date in China. Sony last summer licensed the fourth installment in the successful franchise to Amazon worldwide, but retained China rights.
With the date now confirmed, Sony gets a month’s lead time on promotion and marketing in China where the previous films have grossed a combined $63M, including over $32M from 2018’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.
Although April 3 is a Sunday, it falls at the start of the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, which can be a lucrative box office period. Still, Transformania will arrive in China nearly three months after it was released on Amazon Prime Video in 240 other countries and territories.
The Hotel Transylvania franchise has grossed $1.36 billion worldwide, with each pic making more than its predecessor. Sony opted to go the Amazon route with this one to avoid a head-to-head matchup with Addams Family 2 last fall.
The latest and final outing for the Fang gang is directed by Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon. It features voice work by Selena Gomez, Brian Hull, Jim Gaffigan, Andy Samberg, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher, Brad Abrell and Asher Blinkoff.
In this installment, Van Helsing (Gaffigan) has perfected his mysterious invention, the Monsterfication Ray. When it goes haywire, Drac (Brian Hull, replacing Adam Sandler) and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny (Samberg) becomes a monster. In their new mismatched bodies, Drac and his exuberant son-in-law must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it’s too late.
Here’s the new China poster:
