M3GAN, the first original movie hit of 2023, will get a sequel. Universal Pictures scheduled M3GAN 2.0 for release on Jan. 17, 2025, in an effort to replicate the new film’s box office success. M3GAN has also become a viral hit, thanks to the demonic dancing doll at the center of the chaos in the horror movie.
Screenwriter Akela Cooper will write the sequel, reports Variety. Allison Williams will return, alongside Violet McGraw, who played M3GAN’s best friend Cady. Gerard Johnstone directed the first film, but Universal did not announce a director for 2.0.
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M3GAN only cost Atomic Monster and Blumhouse $12 million to make and has already exceeded expectations. The movie has grossed $61.6 million domesticallyย since its Jan. 6 release, and its worldwide total will reach $100 million later this week. Considering that Avatar: The Way of Water is still in theaters, those numbers are far more than Universal could have expected.
The title of the film stands for Model 3 Generative Android, an artificially intelligent doll. She becomes belligerent and hostile to anyone who comes between her and Cady. Williams plays Gemma, a roboticist who develops the robot doll and becomes self-aware. Jason Blum and James Wan produced the movie, and Wan is credited with creating the story with Cooper.ย
Wan, Blum, and Williams will produce the sequel. Michael Clear and Judson Scott of Wan’s Atomic Monster will executive produce the sequel. Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek and Mark Katchur; and Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer will also serve as executive producers.
Blum has scored plenty of box office hits as a producer, but he has held off on making sequels. However, he was prepared to break that rule with M3GAN even before the movie opened. “After I first saw the movie, we had a good sense that a sequel might really work,” Blum told Varietyย last week. “So, we broke our cardinal rule and we started talking about a sequel before the movie was released. I felt so bullish that we started entertaining a sequel earlier than we usually do.”
The prolific horror producer credited Wan and Atomic Monster with putting the idea for M3GAN together. Even the unique title idea came from Atomic Monster. “It came to us with that title, with the 3 for an ‘e.’ It’s all important,” Blum explained. “When you get something to connect with culture, it’s very tricky. It happens so rarely. Every detail matters. You never know what actually did it, but the title certainly played a part.”
