The murderous robot with the killer dance moves, also known as M3GAN,
is coming to a theater near you. But can the android antagonist live up to all the viral hype?
M3GAN tells the story of a young girl, Cady, who loses both of her parents in a horrible accident.
She's adopted by her aunt, Gemma, a woman who isn't quite prepared to take on the
responsibility of a child, let alone one who's been as traumatized as Cady. To help the young
girl cope with the loss of her family and the repercussions of being isolated at such
a young age, Gemma — who earns her living as a roboticist — introduces her niece to a
project she's been working on. This project is a "toy" that can act as a child's best friend,
a companion that's supposed to chase away loneliness or any other negative emotion.
Gemma calls this toy Model Three Generative Android, aka M3GAN. Once the two are introduced
to one another, Cady becomes very attached to the eerily lifelike doll. M3GAN seems to be
capable of free will so long as her decisions are always in service to her mission — to
protect Cady and ensure that she's always happy. However, as Cady grows more attached to M3GAN,
there are concerns of her becoming too codependent on the android. But when you've got an advanced
piece of machinery like M3GAN running around, codependency is the least of your concerns.
M3GAN becomes increasingly aggressive in her pursuit of caring for Cady, ignoring commands
from the woman who created her and even attacking a child she catches harassing Cady. M3GAN looks to
be a growing problem throughout the film, with her fierce protectiveness spiraling
into outright murder, setting up a showdown between Cady, Gemma, and the killer doll.
M3GAN set the world on fire with its phenomenal trailer, which dropped on October 11, 2022,
attracting nearly 20 million views. The highlight moment of the trailer, where M3GAN
shows off her dancing abilities while pursuing her prey, even inspired all sorts of memes,
while prompting fans to recreate the killer robot's killer dance moves. In other words,
it seems the world has M3GAN fever, and we expect the film to make a killing at the box office.
And yeah, we said "box office." Unlike other films — like Halloween Ends,
which hit both Peacock and theater screens at the same time — it seems like M3GAN will exclusively
be playing on the big screen. While the film was originally scheduled for a January 13th release,
M3GAN will now dance its way into theaters on January 6, 2023, where it will no doubt
inspire even more memes and hopefully just as many screams. In addition to all the free
online publicity created by Twitter and TikTok users, M3GAN has been getting plenty of attention
thanks to the titular character's online war of words with the OG murder doll himself, Chucky.
"Hi, I'm Chucky. Wanna play?"
The former Charles Lee Ray has had quite a lot to say about M3GAN's existence,
but M3GAN has done a pretty good job of clapping back on Twitter. Having these characters beef
with one another as if they were real entities has only added to the press revolving around
the pair of killer dolls, and it's shining a light on both M3GAN and Syfy's TV show Chucky.
When it comes to the character of Gemma,
the filmmakers behind M3GAN decided to cast someone who's no stranger to frightening
films. The protagonist is played by Allison Williams, perhaps best known to horror fans
as the disturbing, manipulative, milk-loving Rose from Get Out. She also starred in one of
Netflix's most upsetting movies, the controversial body horror film The Perfection. Needless to say,
Gemma will be a far different character from Get Out's Rose. She appears to
be a loving but ill-equipped aunt who's doing her best to help Cady,
even if that does involve inadvertently unleashing a murder droid upon the world.
As for poor Cady, that part will be played by the incredibly talented Violet McGraw,
a young actor who has plenty of horror experience herself. She starred as the
young version of Nell in Mike Flanagan's Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House,
and she collaborated with the director again in Doctor Sleep, where she played
the young girl in the opening of the film who falls prey to the vampiric True Knot clan.
But who's playing the titular killer doll herself? Well, the role will go to two different actors.
Jenna Davis will be voicing M3GAN, and you may know her from series like Raven's Home,
Scarlett's Lab, and Treehouse Detectives. While Davis will be delivering the lines,
Amie Donald will actually play M3GAN. The young actress only has one credit to date — she was
in Netflix's Sweet Tooth — but she's a talented dancer who was trained for the role by Luke Hawker
and Jed Brophy, two actors who specialize in playing creepy creatures with strange movements.
With the emergence of filmmakers like Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger,
there seems to be a trend of comedians shifting their talents over to horror. It honestly makes
a lot of sense when you think about it. As horror author Joe R. Lansdale once put it,
"Is that so?" "Yes. Experts say—" "M3GAN, turn off."
When it comes to this trend of funny filmmakers going in a scarier direction, we also have to
bring up director Gerard Johnstone, the man behind M3GAN. Johnstone's roots are in the
world of New Zealand comedy, as he worked on TV shows like The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Terry Teo,
and The New Legends of Monkey. However, in 2014, he began to get a bit spookier
with his first feature film, the horror-comedy Housebound, a film inspired by Ghosthunters,
where a dysfunctional family must deal with the spirits inhabiting their home.
Johnstone earned quite a few award nominations for his work on Housebound from the likes of Fangoria,
Fright Meter, and the SXSW Film Festival, with his movie winning best feature at the Neuchâtel
International Fantastic Film Festival. And now, Johnstone is returning to the
horror genre with M3GAN. While it might not be uproariously funny like some of his early works,
it definitely seems like it's going to go in some bizarre and humorous directions,
especially when it comes to M3GAN's ability to boogie while murdering everyone in sight.
One of the reasons horror fans
are so excited about M3GAN is because of who's penning the screenplay. Akela
Cooper has been busy in the writing world for quite a while, working on shows like Grimm,
The 100, and Luke Cage. Her first script to be turned into a feature film was Hell Fest,
the 2018 story of a slasher on the loose at a horror-themed amusement park. However,
it was her next feature film that would truly put Cooper on the map.
In 2021, viewers were treated to Malignant,
an absolutely bonkers horror movie directed by James Wan. If you haven't seen Malignant yet,
stop what you're doing and check it out. A film that feels like Dario Argento mashed
up with Chad Stahelski, Malignant was one of the craziest horror films in years, and those who dug
its bizarro vibe are incredibly psyched to see what weirdness Cooper has cooked up this time.
Speaking of Malignant,
that film was helmed by the one and only James Wan, the horror legend known for the creation
of The Conjuring, the first two Insidious films, and the original Saw. With Wan's
involvement as a producer on M3GAN, it's no wonder that people have been comparing the
2023 film to Malignant, especially thanks to the similarities between the complex,
Matrix-like choreography displayed in Malignant and the unnatural way in which M3GAN moves.
Of course, Wan isn't the only terrifying titan producing this upcoming flick. Jason Blum,
the man behind Blumhouse Productions, is also co-producing the film. Blumhouse's fingerprints
are all over the modern-day horror genre, as the banner has released incredibly scary and
influential movies like Get Out, The Invisible Man, Split, and long-running series like The
Purge, Insidious, and Paranormal Activity. With these two powerhouses behind the film,
M3GAN is already gearing up to be a wild ride that has fans buzzing with excitement.
When it comes to ratings, quite a few horror films
boast the big, bad R. Some recent examples include slasher flick Halloween Ends, the incredibly
freaky Smile, and Jordan Peele's sci-fi adventure Nope. However, some of the scariest horror movies
of all time are rated PG-13. A Quiet Place, Drag Me to Hell, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
all carry the more family-friendly rating, and they're all straight-up nightmare fuel.
Blumhouse Productions also has quite a few frightening PG-13 films, such as James Wan's
Insidious and M. Night Shyamalan's Split. And now, it looks like M3GAN is joining Blumhouse's
PG-13 pantheon. According to FilmRatings.com, the upcoming robo-thriller earned the rating for
"violent content and terror, some strong language, and a suggestive reference."
As it looks like M3GAN is going to go on a murder rampage,
we're assuming that's where the violent content and terror come from, and we're assuming some
frightened victim is going to drop a few harsh words here and there. Of course,
with a PG-13 rating, while it might not pack the gore of a Michael Myers movie,
M3GAN is sure to draw in a wider audience and earn those big box office dollars.
We know what you're thinking: How can you
ask if there's going to be a M3GAN sequel when the film hasn't even hit theaters yet? It does seem
a strange question on the surface, but really, it shouldn't be all that surprising. We live in
a world dominated by intellectual property, or IP — where studios are always on the lookout for the
next big franchise. And it seems like the folks at Universal think they've found one with M3GAN.
"It's honestly like she's part of the family now."
While Blumhouse is the production company behind M3GAN, Universal is distributing the
horror film. In an article detailing the very real possibility of Jason
Blum and James Wan combining their production companies — Blumhouse
and Atomic Monster — into one horror monolith, The New York Times reported,
So it looks like a M3GAN sequel might be in the pipeline. That leaves us to wonder, will M3GAN
survive the original film? Will she kill off the human protagonists? Or will she be defeated and
then rise from the grave, Chucky-style? We can't wait to find out on January 6, 2023.