M3GAN 2.0 hit theaters over the weekend and, sad to say, the killer doll didn’t exactly slay in her return to the silver screen. Director Gerard Johnstone’s sequel promised a bigger, crazier sequel to 2023’s M3GAN and, for whatever reason, it didn’t resonate with the intended audience. Barring a miraculous turnaround, it now ranks as one of the biggest disappointments the horror genre has faced this summer – if not all year.
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On its opening weekend, M3GAN 2.0 pulled in an estimated $10.2 million at the domestic box office. It landed in fourth place on the charts well behind Brad Pitt’s F1 which took the top spot with $55.6 million. That was well below pre-release projections which not long ago had the sequel pulling in much closer to $20 million. Further complicating matters was last weekend’s big new release 28 Years Later, which made $9.7 million on its second weekend, providing a lot of direct competition in the horror space. Unfortunately, a summer release does mean more competition.
Blumhouse’s latest pulled in another $7 million overseas, giving it a $17 million global start. That’s so-so in light of its reported $25 million production budget but by no means what Universal Pictures or anyone involved hoped for. The sequel sees the tech that created M3GAN abused by a weapons contractor to make a deadlier robot, forcing Gemma to resurrect an upgraded M3GAN to stop her. The cast includes Allison Williams, Violet McGraw and Ivanna Sakhno.
In 2023, Blumhouse’s M3GAN became the year’s first big unexpected box office hit. Thanks in no small part to the killer doll’s viral dance moves, the movie ended up opening to a much bigger-than-expected $30.4 million en route to $180 million worldwide. All against a mere $12 million production budget, no less. For a time, it was one of the biggest original hits of the pandemic era.
There are, however, some key differences. The biggest among them was Universal releasing the first movie in January, which is often a dead “dump” month for studios. It faced very little by way of competition. Reviews for the first installment were also strong, as was enthusiasm amongst prospective ticket buyers, driven by social media. The buzz for this follow-up was noticeably lacking, perhaps in part because it was arriving in the midst of a jam-packed summer season.
Whatever the case, Blumhouse now has some things to figure out. They already have a spin-off, SOULM8TE, filmed and set to release in January 2026. Can that serve as something of a rebound and keep the franchise alive? Or is that going to be the end of the line for what looked to be a very promising universe?
More broadly, Blumhouse has struggled in recent years to capitalize on success and build new franchises, which is what the studio was known for in Hollywood for a long time. Most of the recent hits have come in already established franchises, while movies like Wolf Man and Imaginary, among others, have struggled against expectations. While this sequel might still turn a profit in the end, it’s still going to have to be added to the ever-growing pile of relative disappointments in light of just how well the previous movie did.
M3GAN 2.0 is in theaters now. For more, check out LEGO’s upcoming official Godzilla set.
