In 2022, Blumhouse’s “M3GAN” not only garnered positive reviews (93% on RT), but more surprisingly, ended up grossing an impressive $181M against a skimp $12M budget.
The film tackled a girl robot toy who bonds with the owner she’s assigned to, and causes unbelievable terror. It was all the rage on social media with meme after meme using the doll’s face. The only negative about the film’s unpredicted success was that, given this was a Blumhouse production, we were probably going to be getting a few sequels out of this one.
Enter “M3GAN 2.0,” scheduled for release this summer. Gerard Johnstone, who directed the first one, is back at the helm of the sequel which has kept its plot hush hush since shooting wrapped in September 2024.
“M3GAN 2.0” recently test-screened in California, and it sounds like the sequel is very different than the original. They’ve upped the ante to the point where you practically can’t even compare both movies — they are two totally different beasts.
An attendee tells me that the sequel is “very much a 180 in terms of tone.” It’s an action-thriller with Megan becoming a begrudging hero still hell bent on protecting the same character from the first one, but this time against an enemy that’s “much more lifelike and with more sinister global intentions.”
There are car chases, robots vs robots, and even more leanings into the camp factor involving scenes of Megan dancing and singing full ballads, both really quite funny. It’s ‘T2’ meets “Upgrade” with themes of automation and AI autonomy.
“M3GAN 2.0” sees the return of Allison Williams as Gemma. Also in the cast are Violet McGraw, Amie Donald (as M3GAN), and Brian Jordan Alvarez. The film is scheduled for release on June 27, 2025