Sony Pictures Animation Anoints Toon #3

This article is a few days old, but worth noting here... Variety says: Sony has greenlit its third animated feature, monster comedy "Hotel Transylvania," giving a vote of confidence to Sony Pictures Animation one month ahead of its first release. Anthony Stacchi and David Feiss, co-director and head of story, respectively, on "Open Season," the unit's debut feature, will helm the pic. "Open Season" producer Michelle Murdocca is producing. "Big Momma's House" scribe Don Rhymer, who worked on "Surf's Up," is penning the screenplay. SPA, the studio's 4-year-old CGI unit connected to its Imageworks f/x house, releases "Open Season" next month and is in production on "Surf's Up" for next summer... The Sony Pictures Animation story crews are pleased with "Open Season," and think it delivers comedy and style. (It opens in the Fall. Kevin and I both think it's gonna do well.) And "Surf's Up" and "Hotel Transylvania" have been clicking right along. Only "Cloudy With Meatballs" seems to be problematical. But maybe that flick's story kinks will be straightened out in time, who knows? (I'm told that "Hotel Transylvania" went into development after "Cloudy." So the fact that "Trans" has now been designated picture number three says something good about the way "HT" story work is going, yes?)