‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ Set for China Theatrical Release

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Sony’s “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” will be given a release in Chinese theaters in August, normally a time of year reserved for local movies.

The animated family comedy has been given an Aug. 17 release slot by China’s industry regulators.

The decision means that the film can catch the tail end of ’s summer season. And with a steady trickle of Hollywood releases through the month, it appears that regulators are somewhat easing their normal policy of only allowing the release of Chinese-language films during a variable mid-summer period, colloquially referred to as a blackout period.

China has a busy releasing program for the remainder of the summer, mixing up local franchise movies, China-U.S. co-productions and Hollywood titles. “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” releases in China on Aug. 3. In recent days, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” was confirmed for an Aug. 31 release. “The Meg,” a big-budget, co-produced shark action movie, starring Jason Statham and China’s Li Bingbing, goes out Aug. 10. Among the Chinese titles with large box office aspirations are Le Vision’s “Legend of Ravaging Dynasties” and Dadi Century’s star-studded comedy “Duan Pian Er.”

The “Transylvania 3” China date puts it at the tail end of, but not completely out of synch with, the film’s international rollout. Most territories got the picture in July, but Italy, Hong Kong and the Philippines will all see late-August releases. Japan and Poland get the movie in October.

To date, “Hotel Transylvania 3” has grossed $284 million globally, with $119 million of that coming from North America, and $165 million from international territories.

Both previous installments of the franchise also got theatrical releases in China, albeit in a different season. “Hotel Transylvania” earned $11.8 million from a release in November 2013, while “Hotel Transylvania 2” earned $18.7 million in November 2015.