‘Hotel Transylvania 5’ Confirmed By Keegan-Michael Key, Who Praises Voice Acting As A ‘Sacred Connection To The Drawings’

On the red carpet before his best animated motion picture presenting appearance at the Golden Globes, frequent franchise voice actor Keegan-Michael Key (Hotel Transylvania, The Super Mario Bros. Movie) let slip that Hotel Transylvania 5 is in the works at Sony.

Speaking casually with Variety about his history in animation, Key confirmed he is preparing to return to the voice acting booth as Murray the Mummy. “My latest one I’m about to start work on is Hotel Transylvania 5,” he said.

Key framed his involvement in the franchise as part of a broader love for voice acting, describing animation as a uniquely intuitive process that begins once he sees character designs.

“When I see the character, it’s kind of intuitive. It gives me something. I need to see the drawings or renderings of the character, and then I get a sense of: Are they are high. Are they low? Are they scratchy?”

Showing a level of respect that is often discarded for cheap jokes about how easy voice acting is by other big-name Hollywood talent, Key called his relationship with the characters he voices “almost a sacred connection between me and the drawings.”

The Hotel Transylvania franchise has grossed $1.38 billion worldwide, with the third chapter being the most successful entry to date, collecting $167.5 million domestically and $361.1 million overseas, for a global total of $528.6 million. Pandemic-era distribution trends led to the property’s fourth film, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, skipping theaters domestically and opening only in cinemas in a few territories, finishing with an $18.5 million box office total. It’s impossible to say what Sony’s plans are for HT5, but it seems like a franchise of this size deserves at least a chance with theater-going audiences.

It is unclear what role, if any, franchise creator Genndy Tartakovsky will have in the fifth film. Tartakovsky directed the first three films and is credited as a screenwriter and executive producer on Transformania.