The screenwriter of M3GAN has said her original screenplay was "way
gorier" than the final cut of the film. So can viewers ever
expect to see that blood-soaked unrated version? The answer may surprise you.
The new year in film has officially kicked off with the campy horror thriller M3GAN
from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions.
The stylish doll who lends the movie her name became an internet icon ahead of the movie's
January 2023 release thanks to the glee with which she kills, as showcased in its first trailer.
This preview particularly intrigued fans with a scene in which M3GAN sashays with a handcrafted
machete toward her next victim, building anticipation for the horror comedy early on.
The full movie lived up to the hype by leaning into its campiness, earning an impressive 94%
score on Rotten Tomatoes. This suggests an extremely promising start as the film
premieres to enthusiastic theatergoers looking for a bloody good time. M3GAN is notably produced by
genre veteran James Wan, whose recent work has helped usher in a new generation of horror.
"I get accused of being the master of killer doll movies."
Wan is credited with the story of M3GAN alongside Akela Cooper, who serves as its principal
screenwriter. The duo previously collaborated on the mind-boggling action horror flick Malignant
and are teaming up again for upcoming sequel project The Nun 2. As it turns out, M3GAN in its
final form is decidedly less bloody than in its initial screenplay, which Cooper revealed might
manifest as in unrated cut viewers will hopefully see released before a possible M3GAN sequel.
The final trailer for M3GAN gave viewers a terrifying look at its titular doll's
proficiency for killing and the deadly tactics she employs against a few unfortunate victims
who threaten either her or her best friend Cady. In an interview published just before
the film's release, writer Akela Cooper told The L.A. Times that an unrated cut of M3GAN
may already be in the works, featuring even more violence. Cooper said of the film's screenplay:
Cooper also revealed that James Wan's input spared several lives, as he credited her with writing
compelling characters undeserving of their deaths as initially planned. Cooper told The L.A. Times:
The acclaimed writer also explained why the movie was eventually toned down to
adhere to an intended PG-13 rating — once M3GAN's dance went viral,
the teenage audience it developed online became central to its marketing campaign. That said,
Cooper's interview hints that we may possibly see a bloodier, unrated cut released in the future,
preserving M3GAN's rampage as initially conceived for future fans of the film.
In an interview GamesRadar published just prior to the January 6,
2023 premiere of M3GAN, director Gerard Johnstone explained that,
following a precedent set by Sam Raimi horror comedy Drag Me To Hell,
he decided to re-shoot certain scenes in order to secure a PG-13 rating. Johnstone told the outlet:
While Johnstone may be a firm believer in M3GAN as a PG-13 film, plenty of fans are
nevertheless interested in the possible unrated cut that Akela Cooper floated. For example,
in a Reddit thread about Cooper's comments, one user proposed that one particular scene would
have benefitted from a higher gore quotient. Meanwhile, another person wrote on Twitter
that they want to see a more detailed version of a certain character's death in an unrated release.
While Cooper may have mentioned the prospect of an unrated M3GAN, there's not yet any official
word from either Universal or Blumhouse. Of course, if fan interest remains high,
this bloodier version of M3GAN could very well see the light of day.