Breakout Hit 'M3GAN' Quickly Gets Sequel Greenlit

That didn't take long. The first breakout movie hit of 2023, "M3GAN," already has a sequel in the works. As reported by Variety, a sequel to the sci-fi horror-thriller is in the works for a January 2025 release date.

The film's official Twitter account had some fun with the news of a "M3GAN" Cinematic Universe, showing an image of Thanos from the MCU with an image of M3GAN's face photoshopped over the head:

https://twitter.com/meetM3GAN/status/1615835272499040258

The new sequel, produced by Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions, will land on January 17, 2025. Writer Akela Cooper, who penned the script for the first film, is returning to write the sequel. Variety also reports that stars Allison Williams and Violet McGraw will be back for the sequel. The report did not mention if M3GAN's performers will be back for the sequel. Jenna Davis served as the voice of the robot in the film, with Amie Donald providing the physical onset performance for the character.

Details on the plot have not yet been revealed, but the first film follows Williams as a robotics engineer who creates an AI-empowered doll, M3GAN, to serve as a friend for her niece after she lost her parents in a tragic accident. Gerard Johnstone directed the first film, but a director for the sequel has not yet been announced.

Releasing earlier this month, "M3GAN" has been a sizable breakout hit for Universal Pictures. The film did very well with critics, scoring 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also had a great opening weekend, bringing in $30.4 million and performing well against James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water." Considering the film has a budget of only $12 million, it's going to be an incredibly profitable release for the studio, having grossed $61 million domestically and $96.7 million worldwide thus far.

The film was produced by Jason Blum and James Wan ("Aquaman," "Furious 7"), with Wan also credited as the story writer for the film. Blum, Wan, and Williams will also return to produce the sequel, with Michael Clear and Judson Scott executive producing the project for Wan's Atomic Monster company. Blumhouse's Ryan Turek is executive producing the film with Mark Katchur. Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath are also executive producing the project under the Divide/Conquer banner.

"M3GAN" getting a sequel announced so quickly after having such huge breakout success is not so surprising. While January is not always the hottest period for new movie releases, it can still be a good time of year for horror or counter-programming fare to have a moment far removed from all the other major blockbuster releases of the spring and summer seasons. It's a strategy that paid off for the Universal release, and it looks like one Universal is hoping to duplicate by opting for another January release in 2025.

Since the film underwent reshoots to bring it in at a PG-13 rating, that likely helped open the film up to a wider demographic than a more restrictive R-rating. While horror fans likely would have preferred the R-rating, director Johnstone explained in an interview with Collider that the PG-13 rating was a result of the film being closer to a PG-13 rating anyway.

Universal and Blumhouse's "M3GAN" is now playing in theaters.