Sony Pictures has unveiled a new teaser from the upcoming Hotel Transylvania 4, subtitled Transformania, announcing a full trailer is set to arrive on Monday. The fourth installment in the Todd Durham-created franchise will also be the last for the animated fantasy comedy hit. After seeing numerous changes in its release schedule, Hotel Transylvania 4 is now set to hit theaters on July 23.
On the heels of the third film scoring the best box numbers of the franchise so far, Sony Pictures Animation greenlit a fourth film's development in February 2019, though series director Genndy Tartakovsky confirmed that October he wouldn't return to direct the movie. Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon were instead brought on board, with Tartakovsky writing the script. Though the majority of the cast are returning for the final outing, it was recently revealed that star Adam Sandler would be replaced by Brian Hull as Dracula, though it's still unclear as to the reason why he left.
Sony took to the Hotel Transylvania Twitter account to announce a trailer for Transformania will be arriving this upcoming Monday. To celebrate, the studio also unveiled a brief snippet of footage of Hull's Dracula, Andy Samberg's Johnny, and Selena Gomez's Mavis. The teaser can be viewed below:
Since its debut in 2012, the Hotel Transylvania series has been one of the most consistently surprising family-friendly franchises out there. Though not reaching the same highs of Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs series, the films also don't hit the lows of some other Sandler-starring efforts or some recent family fare including Warner Bros.' Tom & Jerry. The teaser doesn't offer much insight on Hotel Transylvania 4's story, but it point towards more giddy and colorfully-animated adventures. Plus, with a brief bit of audio from Hull's Dracula showing a faithful recreation of Sandler's voice work on the character, it appears the franchise will go out with a bang despite one star's absence.
Even for those who aren't devoted fans of Hotel Transylvania, it should come as a bit of a sad surprise that the films are coming to an end. With an impressive ensemble voice cast and the involvement of a legendary animation director, it seemed like the sky was the limit for the franchise. Though it's certainly made the most of its characters, some were likely hoping for future installments. For now, audiences will have to wait and see how the monster-filled series comes to an end when Hotel Transylvania 4 hits theaters this July.
Source: Hotel Transylvania/Twitter