Movies
Miley Cyrus Exits Animated ‘Hotel Transylvania 3D’
A rep for Sony Pictures has confirmed to EW that Miley Cyrus is no longer set to voice Mavis, the daughter of Dracula (Adam Sandler), in the Sony Picture Animation production Hotel Transylvania.
The studio had no comment on why Cyrus was leaving the film, and Cyrus’ rep did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
It was reported last November that Cyrus had joined the production to play the teenage daughter of the famed vampire, who constructs an elaborate resort for things that go bump in the night as a way of protecting his daughter from the real world.
The rest of the cast includes Kevin James as Frankenstein, Fran Drescher as the Bride of Frankenstein, David Spade as the Invisible Man, David Koechner as Quasimodo, Cee Lo Green as Murray the Mummy, and Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon as a pair of werewolves.
Genndy Tartakovsky (Star Wars: Clone Wars) is directing the film, which is slated for release on September 21, 2012. 
Movies
‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts
In the wake of Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man back in 2020, Universal has been struggling to achieve further box office success with their Universal Monsters brand. Even in the early days of the pandemic, Invisible Man scared up $144 million at the worldwide box office, while last year’s Universal Monsters: Dracula movies The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield didn’t even approach that number when you COMBINE their individual box office hauls.
The horror-comedy Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with just $26 million. The period piece Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21 million.
But Universal is trying again with their ballerina vampire movie Abigail this weekend, the latest bloodbath directed by the filmmakers known as Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream).
Unlike Demeter and Renfield, the early reviews for Abigail are incredibly strong, with our own Meagan Navarro calling the film “savagely inventive in terms of its vampiric gore,” ultimately “offering a thrill ride with sharp, pointy teeth.” Read her full review here.
That early buzz – coupled with some excellent trailers – should drive Abigail to moderate box office success, the film already scaring up $1 million in Thursday previews last night. Variety notes that Abigail is currently on track to enjoy a $12 million – $15 million opening weekend, which would smash Renfield ($8 million) and Demeter’s ($6 million) opening weekends.
Working to Abigail‘s advantage is the film’s reported $28 million production budget, making it a more affordable box office bet for Universal than the two aforementioned movies.
Stay tuned for more box office reporting in the coming days.
In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
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