Hotel Transylvania: Transformania Trailer: The Sequel Finally Arrives In January
Score one for the "spooky year-round" agenda: the latest, long-awaited "Hotel Transylvania" movie will be gracing our screens this January! The first feature-length entry in the franchise since 2018, "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania," dropped a new trailer today and it looks like an utterly goofy good time.
Tongue-twisting title aside, "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" seems to have a lot of kooky stuff going for it in the way late-in-the-game sequels sometimes do. These movies love unleashing their monsters all over the globe, and the latest chapter is no exception.
The trailer shows that when Van Helsing's glowing green transformer ray falls into the hands of Andy Samberg's dopey human, Johnny, it unleashes chaos on every hotel resident, turning monsters into people and people into monsters. The group responds by going on an expedition into the Amazon rainforest to somehow reverse the effects of the ray.
A Monstrous Transformation
The trailer reveals that Johnny turns into what appears to be a big green dragon, while Drac (Brian Hull, taking over for Adam Sandler) is disturbed to find out he's become human. Drac is stunned by what he calls his "dad bod," but Frank (Brad Abrell, previously Kevin James) is just as unnerving as a human hottie. Murray the mummy's (Keegan-Michael Key) bandages fall off to expose the human underneath, while invisible Griffin (David Spade) sees himself for the first time and realizes he's balding. Only Selena Gomez's Mavis seems unchanged.
This is reportedly the last planned Hotel Transylvania movie, but the trailer doesn't play that up or even promise a conclusion. Instead, it dwells on this transformation montage, a bit about Drac getting bitten by mosquitoes, and Samberg's character's excellent new creature design. Even if you've never had the urge to watch a "Hotel Transylvania" film, you might be roped in by the sight of a giddy green dragon yelling, "Hey, Drac, what's up!" in Samberg's familiar, endearing voice.
Sony Goes To Streaming
The trailer does note that the film is an Amazon Prime exclusive. "On January 14th, family movie night is getting revamped," the narrator declares, referencing Sony's decision to release "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" direct-to-streaming in light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The first three entries into the franchise grossed over $1.3 billion dollars worldwide, but Sony reportedly penned an exclusive deal with Amazon after witnessing last summer's understandably sluggish box office.
Surely, plenty of kids (and their comedy-loving parents) will show up for "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" when it drops on Amazon Prime on January 14, 2022.