In an interview with MovieFone, "Hotel Transylvania 2" director Genndy Tartakovsky revealed that he and "Popeye" have parted ways.

"'Popeye,' at least, we put up a great screening, everybody really liked that sizzle, we got a positive reaction," said Tartakovsky. "I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don't know if they want to make the 'Popeye' that I want to make. So they've got to make a decision. Right now, I'm off that project and moving on to the other one that we soft-announced, which is 'Can You Imagine?' -- which is an original idea of my own and a very personal story. It was hard to let 'Popeye' go, but that's the business."

Tartakovsky has been attached to the CG Popeye project, which has been in development over at Sony Pictures Animation, since June 2012. At the time it was announced in November 2011, the 3D animated film was said to be in line with "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and had a script from "Smurfs" screenwriters Jay Scherick and David Ronn.

Tartakovsky's next film, "Hotel Transylvania 2," stars the voices of Adam Sandler, David Spade, Kevin James and Keegan-Michael Key. The sequel to the 2012 animated film will be released on September 25.