The war between streaming services for users is fierce. Netflix leads by number of customers, but Disney + is the one that grows the most and is getting closer. Amazon Prime, with the e-commerce giant behind it, is also fighting.
In this scenario, it is necessary to analyze the negotiations that are being carried out Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon Prime Video for one of the most important premieres of the Japanese production company, “Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania”, does not materialize in the first place in movie theaters, but in video streaming services.
The agreement, which according to Variety is about to be finalized, would demand a payment of 100 million dollars by Amazon Prime Video.
“Hotel Transylvania” is one of the most fruitful sagas in the history of Sony’s film production company. With the first three films, it grossed more than $ 1.3 billion in theaters around the world from 2012 to 2019.
However, the increase in covid cases, even more so with the reinvigoration of the delta variant, extremely contagious and that predominantly affects unvaccinated people, has made screening in cinemas very complicated in most of the world.
Even more so in the case of films for children, since vaccines for children under 12 have not yet been developed.
According to Variety, Sony has already realized that it will have serious problems to release in theaters in large cities, so since the beginning of August it began to explore the possibility of an alternative release for the fourth “Hotel Transylvania” film, which was initially scheduled to hit theaters on October 1.
According to the same source, Sony will leave in the hands of Amazon the premiere in almost all the world and he kept the rights to the premiere in China and to the future projection on the company’s channels on pay TV.
Sony is the only major studio without an associated streaming service, so it has had to sign individual deals for the releases of each of its films in 2020 and 2021.
In 2020, Sony placed “Greyhound” on Apple TV Plus, in the case of “An American Pickle”, it was sold to HBO Max and with “Happiest Season”, it signed with Hulu.
In 2021, the studio worked with Netflix for the premiere of “Fatherhood,” “The Mitchells vs. the Machines ”and“ Vivo, ”and with Amazon Prime Video for“ Cinderella, ”which will debut the streaming service on September 3.
Billed as the “final chapter” of the “Hotel Transylvania” series, “Transformania” is directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska from a script by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo and executive producer Genndy Tartakovsky.