Hotel Transylvania 5 - Movie Preview

"Hotel Transylvania" is actually continuing! It was previously reported that the series would end for good after Part 4: "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" was supposed to be the grand finale of the popular animated series. But anyone familiar with Hollywood already suspects as much: a franchise that has grossed well over a billion U.S. dollars worldwide rarely stays buried for long.

Then, in July, the big news broke: "Hotel Transylvania 5" was officially announced. And the best part? The monsters are returning to the big screen! Many fans were a bit disappointed that the previous installment had gone straight to Prime Video in 2022. The new film's original title is "The Haunting of Hotel Transylvania" What's it about, who are the filmmakers, and when is the theatrical release? We'll cover all that in this article!

Here's the plot of Hotel Transylvania 5

First, a quick look back. The fourth movie had actually wrapped up the story nicely: Dracula handed the hotel over to Mavis and Johnny and retired to enjoy his well-deserved rest. From a narrative perspective, that made perfect sense as a conclusion. But for a grand finale, the rather lackluster installment – with its direct release on streaming platforms – wasn't very successful.

Part 5 now picks up directly where the previous film left off. According to the official synopsis, Dracula is enjoying his retirement to the fullest while his daughter Mavis takes over the reins of the business. But then a series of eerie incidents occurs, and the monsters must uncover what lies behind the mysterious haunting at the hotel.

This premise naturally raises some interesting questions: What exactly can still scare creatures like Frankenstein, werewolves, or vampires? If a haunting belongs anywhere, it surely belongs at Hotel Transylvania. But let's be honest: as long as the jokes land and we can empathize with the characters, the story's setting hardly matters. That's why it's much more important to us who's directing this movie in the first place.

The theatrical release of Hotel Transylvania 5

The good news: The tried-and-true team is back behind the scenes. Veteran Genndy Tartakovsky is once again on board as executive producer. Jennifer Kluska and Alan Hawkins are directing. Both have also been involved in the franchise for many years in various roles. So we don't expect any major changes to the style of this sequel. Clearly, the motto is: No experiments!

No wonder – after all, the goal is to replicate the enormous success of the previous films: The movies have continued to grow in popularity since the series began in 2012. The first film grossed just under 360 million, the sequel nearly 475 million, and the third installment reached almost 530 million dollars worldwide. We're curious to see if the franchise can regain its former strength after this hiatus. "Hotel Transylvania 5" is set to hit theaters on October 8, 2027.

By the way: The movie isn't the only project in the series currently in development. A Netflix series is also in the works. It's titled "Motel Transylvania". In it, Dracula and Mavis open a monster-human resort in the California desert. The spin-off series was originally scheduled to premiere in 2025, but is now also planned for 2027.