| Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | |
|---|---|
_Poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Genndy Tartakovsky |
| Written by |
|
| Based on | Characters byTodd Durham |
| Produced by | Michelle Murdocca |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Joyce Arrastia |
| Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing[2] (underColumbia Pictures) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 97 minutes[4] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65–80 million[5][6] |
| Box office | $528.6 million[6] |
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (released internationally asHotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation[7]) is a 2018 American animatedmonstercomedy film directed byGenndy Tartakovsky and written by Tartakovsky andMichael McCullers. Produced bySony Pictures Animation, it is the third film intheHotel Transylvania franchise.Adam Sandler,Andy Samberg,Selena Gomez,Kevin James,David Spade,Steve Buscemi,Keegan-Michael Key,Molly Shannon,Fran Drescher, andMel Brooks reprise their roles from previous installments, withKathryn Hahn andJim Gaffigan joining the cast. In the film, Dracula finds love with a ship captain named Ericka while on a vacation on a luxury cruise liner with his family and friends, but it is revealed that Ericka is actually the great-granddaughter ofAbraham Van Helsing, Drac's arch-nemesis.
The film was announced in November 2015. Tartakovsky confirmed his return in June 2016 after receiving inspiration from a "miserable" family vacation and theChevy ChaseNational Lampoon's Vacation movies. The title was revealed in November 2017.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation premiered at theAnnecy International Animated Film Festival on June 13, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 13. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $528 million against a budget of $65–80 million, making it the highest-grossing film in the series. A further sequel,Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, was released in 2022, while a spin-off series,Motel Transylvania, is scheduled to premiere onNetflix in 2025.
In 1897,Dracula and his friends travel in disguise on a train toBudapest, the capital of theHungarian part ofAustria-Hungary. However, Drac's arch-nemesis ProfessorAbraham Van Helsing boards the train and unveils the monsters; the monsters escape by climbing through the roof, and Drac pushes his friends off the train for their safety. Van Helsing becomes obsessed with destroying Drac but is constantly outsmarted by him.
In the present day, one year afterthe second film, Drac is running his hotel business smoothly withMavis andJohnny. Drac is depressed that he has remained single since his wifeMartha's death despite his attempts to meet someone. Misinterpreting this as stress from overwork, Mavis books a cruise so they can all take a break and spend more time together as a family. Drac, Johnny, Mavis,Dennis,Vlad, and the hotel guests board acruise ship calledLegacy. Drac sees the ship's captain,Ericka, and falls inlove with her at first sight, something that he thought was impossible as he had already "zinged" before.
Ericka afterwards goes to a private and secret room on the lower decks where she meets up with Abraham van Helsing, secretly her great-grandfather. Van Helsing has almost entirely mechanized his body to avoid death and has a plan to eliminate all the monsters: on the cruise's arrival at the lost city ofAtlantis, he will use an Instrument of Destruction in Atlantis' ruins. Van Helsing makes Ericka promise to not assassinate Drac beforehand, but she makes repeated unsuccessful attempts to do so anyway. Drac's friends hear Ericka complain about her inability to get him and misinterpret this as a sign of affection. Drac nervously asks Ericka out on a date, and she accepts since she sees this as another opportunity to kill him. As they dine on a deserted island, Ericka unexpectedly begins to fall in love with Drac, after they learn about each other's pasts where they lost their loved ones - for Drac, it was his beloved Martha and for Ericka, it was her parents.
Mavis discovers her father is interested in Ericka and becomes suspicious of Ericka's motives. The cruise ship reaches Atlantis, which has been converted into a casino. Drac decides to tell Mavis the truth about Ericka but gets distracted seeing Ericka enter an underground crypt. Drac follows her, with Mavis not far behind, and learns that Ericka is after a "family heirloom". With Drac's help, she evades the booby traps around the object and escapes. Mavis arrives and confronts them, and Drac confesses that he "zinged" with Ericka, to Mavis's surprise and confusion. After Ericka is told what a "zing" is, her inner guilt about lying to Drac forces her to reject his feelings for her, leaving Drac heartbroken and Mavis feeling guilty.
A regretful Ericka gives van Helsing the Instrument of Destruction, and he sets a trap for the monsters at a dance party. Noticing that Drac is still depressed about Ericka, Mavis takes advice from Johnny and tells her father to talk to Ericka, admitting that she was afraid of him leaving her, which allays Drac's fears. Van Helsing shows up and pushes away theDJ and a saddened Ericka is forced to reveal that she is his great-granddaughter. Van Helsing unveils the Instrument of Destruction—a case for a music note sheet—and plays a song that drives a friendlyKraken living near the island to attack the monsters. Drac tries to stop the evil Kraken but gets injured. Ericka saves Drac from the evil Kraken and pleads with her great-grandfather to stop the destruction, confessing her love for Drac. This infuriates Van Helsing, and he attacks them both.
To pacify the evil Kraken, Johnny opens up a portable DJ kit and plays positive songs to beat van Helsing's song. Upon playing the "Macarena", the Kraken is relaxed and happy for good. Van Helsing is unable to counter the song as the humans and monsters begins to dance, including the music sheet, which rips itself to pieces during the process. When van Helsing also dances, he accidentally slips and falls, but Drac saves him. Touched by the act of kindness, van Helsing apologizes to the monsters and gives everybody a full refund for the cruise, before sending them back.
Back at the hotel, Drac proposes to Ericka, who gets tongue-tied at the question before accepting.
Additionally, Tartakovsky, Whyte, Strong, and Teigen also reprised their roles in the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish, and Romanian language dubs of the movie.
In September 2015, Michelle Murdocca, the film's producer, said before thesecond film's release that the studio was "talking about number 3 and moving forward and taking the franchise to the next level," but thought that she and directorGenndy Tartakovsky would not return, since they were working on Tartakovsky'sCan You Imagine?[12] before that project was later shelved.[13] That same month, Tartakovsky stated that he will not return for the sequel, specifying toTheWrap that "two is enough. I have a lot of other ideas, and I kind of have to express them and have them come out."[14] In November 2015,Sony Pictures Animation announced that the third film, under the tentative title ofHotel Transylvania 3, had been set for release on September 21, 2018.[15]
Despite leaving the series, Tartakovsky later announced that he would return as the director for the third installment.[16][12]Adam Sandler,Selena Gomez, andAndy Samberg also reprised their previous roles, as Dracula, Mavis, and Johnny, respectively, and the film was written by Tartakovsky andAustin Powers writerMichael McCullers.[16] In June 2016, Sony also confirmed Tartakovsky's return, after his taking a leave of absence to work on thefinal season of his showSamurai Jack.[17] According to Tartakovsky, he returned after he received inspiration from a "miserable" family vacation, and from theChevy ChaseNational Lampoon's Vacation movies, as the film takes place aboard a cruise ship.[18][19][20] By early November 2017, the film had been entitledHotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.[6]
One of the biggest challenges for the animation team was creating the massive Kraken character and simulating the water effects and destruction caused by the massive creature.[21]
Mark Mothersbaugh returned to score the third film, having previously scored the first two installments, whileSony Classical Records has released an official soundtrack of the trilogy. Dutch DJTiësto also provided music for the film's climax - "Tear It Down" for the disco party, and "Seavolution" and "Wave Rider" for Van Helsing's Kraken brain-washing music; these were all released separately from the soundtrack.DNCE's song "Cake by the Ocean" andPitbull's song "Shake Senora" were used in promotional material.Eric Nam recorded the song "Float" for the film. "I See Love" performed byJonas Blue featuringJoe Jonas was featured in the film's end-credits, while Joe Jonas also recorded "It's Party Time" for the film while he was voicing the Kraken.Bruno Mars' song "24K Magic" was also provided for the scene when Dracula dances on the cruise ship as Ericka makes attempts on his life and a fishman (voiced by Chris Parnell) sings a cover version of "Downtown" on stage in another scene. During a scene where the characters dance,Gangnam Style plays.
Summer Vacation was originally scheduled for release on September 21, 2018, a date that was later moved up two months earlier to July 13 as Sony rescheduledGoosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween for the original date instead.[15][24] On June 21, 2018,Amazon announced it was offering itsAmazon Prime members an early showing of the film on June 30, at about 1,000 theaters, similar to fellowSony releaseJumanji: Welcome to the Jungle the previous December.[25]
Summer Vacation was released onDVD,Blu-ray and4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 9, 2018, bySony Pictures Home Entertainment.[26]
In April 2021, Sony signed a deal giving Disney access to their legacy content, including pastHotel Transylvania films to stream onDisney+ andHulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability onNetflix.[27][28]
Summer Vacation has grossed $167.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $361.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $528.6 million against a production budget of $65–80 million.[6][5] On September 1, 2018, the film surpassed its predecessor,Hotel Transylvania 2, to becomeSony Pictures Animation's highest-grossing film worldwide to be completely animated (and second-highest overall behind 2011'sThe Smurfs)[29][30] until it was overtaken bySpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in 2023;[31]Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse would later surpassHotel Transylvania 2 to become SPA's highest-grossing film domestically in 2019[32] until it was also overtaken by its sequel in 2023.
In the United States and Canada,Summer Vacation was released alongside the opening ofSkyscraper, as well as the wide expansion ofSorry to Bother You, and was projected to gross $38–45 million from 4,267 theaters in its first weekend.[25][33] The film made $1.3 million from its early 3PM screenings held by Amazon on June 30, and $2.6 million from screenings beginning at 5PM the Thursday before its official release.[34] It went on open to $44.1 million, finishing first at the box office and landing in-between the debuts of the first twoHotel Transylvania films.[35] The film made $23.2 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomersThe Equalizer 2 andMamma Mia! Here We Go Again.[36] It made another $12.3 million in its third weekend, finishing fourth.[37]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 62% of 119 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation delivers exactly what fans will expect – which means another 97 agreeably lightweight minutes of fast-paced gags and colorful animation." It is the highest rated film of the Hotel Transylvania franchise on Rotten Tomatoes.[38]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[39] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned by both its predecessors.[35]
IGN gave the film score of 7.6 out of 10, saying, "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is mostly funny, BLAH-blah-BLAH!"[40] Jamie Righetti ofIndieWire wrote, "With plenty of laughs, truly dazzling animation, and some more of the franchise's signature dance sequences,Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is a summer treat worth savoring, and a reminder that if we can see past our differences, we'll find we're not that different after all."[41]
Conversely, Scott Tobias ofVariety gave the film a negative review, stating, "That leavesHotel Transylvania 3 to look too much like another lackadaisical gathering of Sandler and his frequent on-screen chums, like a PG-ratedGrown Ups at sea."[42] Brian Lowry ofCNN wrote, "Creatively, though, unlike the best animated franchises, whatever sense of discovery, surprise or ingenuity thatHotel Transylvania originally offered appears pretty well behind it."[43] Geoffrey Macnab ofThe Independent gave it 2 out of 5 stars, saying "In its scattergun way, parts of the film are funny and very inventive. The hitch is that the storytelling feels so utterly random."[44]
Scott Mendelson ofForbes gave the film a mixed review, saying "The movie looks great, there are a few chuckles, and the kids may enjoy it. But compared to its predecessors,Hotel Transylvania 3 is mostly blah (blah blah)."[45] Brian Tallerico ofRogerEbert.com wrote, "Hotel Transylvania 3 gets enough of that right to allow it to stand aboveIt's not that bad. It's more forgettable than painful."[46] Chris Nashawaty fromEntertainment Weekly gave the film a B−, saying "The harmless high jinks all go down easily enough without being particularly memorable or pushing the art form past the expected."[47] Rafer Guzmán ofNewsday stated, "In the end, the noisy humor and classic rock songs drown out whatever worthy messagesHotel Transylvania 3 might offer."[48]
ThePeople's Choice Awards nominated the film in the category "Favorite Family Movie".[49] At the2019 Kids' Choice Awards, Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez won Favorite Male and Female Voice from an Animated Movie, respectively.[50]
A video game based on the film, titledHotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard, was released forMicrosoft Windows,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4, andXbox One on July 10, 2018. It was developed byTorus Games and published byOutright Games.[51][52] While Keegan-Michael Key was the only one to reprise his role from the film, the rest of the cast consists of Brock Powell as Count Dracula, Melissa Sturm as Mavis, Michael Buscemi as Wayne,Julianne Buescher as Ericka, Danny Gendron as Frank, and Brian T. Stevenson as Johnny. Margaret Tang voice directs the video game.
In February 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that a fourth film was in development and was scheduled to be released on December 22, 2021.[53] In October 2019, Tartakovsky announced he would not direct the film.[54] In April 2020, it was announced that it would be moved up to August 6, 2021.[55] In September 2020, it was announced thatJennifer Kluska andDerek Drymon would replace Tartakovsky as director, although he would still be involved as producer and screenwriter, as well as Selena Gomez reprising her role as Mavis, and serving as executive producer of the film.[56] In April 2021, the film's official title was revealed,Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, and the film's release date was moved up again to July 23, 2021,[57] before moving to October 1, 2021.[58] That same day, Sony confirmed thatAdam Sandler would not be returning to voiceDracula in the film and would be replaced byYouTube voice impressionist Brian Hull.[59] It was also announced thatKevin James would not be reprising his role asFrankenstein, and the role would be given to Brad Abrell.[60] In August 2021, Sony was in discussions to cancel the film's theatrical plans and release it direct-to-streaming, in response to theSARS-CoV-2 Delta variant surges in the United States and the low box office turnouts ofBlack Widow andThe Suicide Squad.[61][62] On October 6, Amazon Studios acquired the distribution rights to the film for $100 million, and released it exclusively on Prime Video on January 14, 2022, worldwide, excluding China, where Sony would handle a theatrical release.[63][64]
Motel Transylvania was announced in June 2024 byNetflix as part of the streamer's slate of animated projects underway.[65][66] The series is set to focus on Dracula and Mavis opening amotel.[67]
Media related toHotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toHotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation at Wikiquote
