The slasher universe of the terrifying doll expands.
M3GAN was one of the most surprising and lucrative titles of 2022. The film produced by the horror label Blumhouse Productions represented a new twist to the slasher genre, updating the cliché of Chucky, the evil doll, to the new times. Changing the gender of the antagonist and shaping his personality towards the evils of artificial intelligence, the good results at the box office led Universal Pictures to have no doubts about filming a sequel. M3GAN managed to raise 181 million dollars, starting from a reduced budget of only 12 million dollars. With those figures, in addition to a sequel, it was inevitable that the company would not expand the story with a spin-off which in this case, will be titled SOULM8TE.
Atomic Monster and Blumhouse will produce the spin-off story which has been described as a ““erotic thriller” inspired by similar films developed in the 90s. As is the case of Basic instinct and wild games or in previous films from the 80s of the impact of Fatal Attraction either Fire in the body. But of course, instead of having a conventional role, we will of course be faced with a robot with psychopathic tendencies.
What will ‘SOULM8TE’ be about?
For all we know, SOULM8TE will tell us the story of a man who acquires an android with AI to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sensitive couple, he inadvertently turns a harmless love robot into a deadly soulmate.
The person in charge of directing it will be Kate Dolanwho debuted behind the cameras in 2021 with You Are Not my Mother. Dolan himself has written the script from a story created by Ingrid Bisa, Rafael Jordan and filmmaker James Wan. The director is the creator of the company Atomic Monster, the other production company that supervises the film along with Blumhouse. Wan’s label is responsible for key franchises in modern horror cinema. Saw, Insidious either The Conjuring These are some of his creations. On the other hand, the brand led by Jason Blum has also had a powerful influence on the development of the genre, with recent works such as the reboot/continuation of the Halloween saga, The Black Phone or the video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s. The creative sum of both produced the success of M3GAN, whose sequel is scheduled for June 27, 2025. For its part, Blumhouse is developing the second part of the aforementioned titles, apart from signing the continuation of The Exorcist by the hand of Mike Flanagan.
SOULM8TE It does not yet have a confirmed cast, but it still has a long development period until it is released in theaters January 2, 2026.
Where is ‘M3GAN’ available?
The official synopsis of M3GAN is the following: «M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a realistic doll programmed to be the best companion for children and the greatest ally for parents. Designed by Gemma, M3GAN is able to listen, observe and learn as she becomes a friend, teacher, playmate and protector of the child she bonds with. When Gemma unexpectedly becomes the legal guardian of her 9-year-old niece, not knowing very well what to do or feeling prepared to act as a mother, she begins to link the M3GAN prototype to the little girl in an attempt to solve both problems. However, it will not take long for them to realize the horrible consequences of her actions.
We know that M3GAN 2.0 will have again Allison Williams and Violent McGraw as protagonists, added to the voice and body of the young Ami Donald, who gives life to the doll. M3GAN is available on the platform Movistar +.
Terror: a boon for the box office
Horror is experiencing a time of splendor both at the box office and in the variety of its subgenres. In recent years, in the most authorial part we have known key names of the stature of Robert Eggers and Ari Aster, who have become filmmakers to keep in mind in the future. Likewise, celebrated sagas such as Scream, Halloween itself and The Exorcist have been recovered. The creation of new intellectual properties as M3GAN, tell me either It Follows They represent a rare bird on celluloid. Well, usually in other genres there are constant revisions of stories that we already know. However, this year we will have other sequels in theaters such as talk to me 2 and They Follow.
