M3GAN 2 Already In The Works?

The latest hit horror film, M3GAN, has been so wildly successful that Universal has already green-lit a sequel that is in early-development.

By Douglas Helm | Published

M3GAN has been a smash hit on social media, critically, and at the box office, so it’s no surprise that there are plans for M3GAN 2. According to Deadline, the sequel is already in early development, meaning we could expect to see another film in the very near future. There may also be an unrated version of the first film on the way, as screenwriter Akela Cooper revealed that the film was originally much gorier than the PG-13 rating would allow.

Of course, that PG-13 rating undoubtedly contributed to the success of M3GAN and the possibility of M3GAN 2. In a stroke of marketing genius, the film was able to blow up on TikTok thanks to a M3GAN dance challenge that the marketing team capitalized on. The #M3GAN, #M3GANMovie, and #M3GANDance hashtags brought in over 1.3 billion views on the social media platform, and the marketing team at Universal even hired a troupe of M3GAN dancers to perform at the global premiere, the Empire State Building, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and more.

 Since TikTok users tend to skew younger, it’s a good thing that M3GAN was rated PG-13 as it probably helped the film hit its impressive box office numbers. The film exceeded expectations with an incredible $30 million opening weekend, with $45 million at the global box office overall. When a film manages to blow past expectations like that, sequels like M3GAN 2 are usually a given.

M3GAN is produced by James Wan, who has become a go-to horror name thanks to franchises like The Conjuring, Insidious, Annabelle, and more. If M3GAN 2 gets made, Wan can add yet another successful horror franchise to his belt. In fact, his The Conjuring universe is the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, with over $2 billion in box office dollars.

Along with producing M3GAN, Wan also is credited for the story while Akela Cooper penned the screenplay. While Wan has certainly directed his fair share of horror films, he stayed in the producer role for this film and Gerard Johnstone took on director duties. Hopefully, Universal will bring back this all-star team when they make M3GAN 2.

M3GAN
The titular murderous robot from M3GAN

M3GAN follows Gemma, a robotics engineer who decided to pair her life-like M3GAN prototype doll with her orphaned niece Cady to help ease the pressures of being a parent while she’s overwhelmed at work. Of course, the doll begins to take on a life of it’s own, with things going terribly wrong. The film stars Allison Williams as Gemma, Violet McGraw as Cady, and Jenna Davis as the voice of M3Gan (with Amie Donald playing the physical M3Gan role).

M3GAN also stars Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ronny Chieng, Stephane Garneau-Monten, Lori Dungey, Amy Usherwood, Jack Cassidy, Michael Saccente, Renee Lyons, Samson Chan-Boon, Natasha Kojic, Kira Josephson, Millen Baird, and Chelsie Preston Clayford. It’s not a spoiler to say that M3GAN racks up a body count in this movie, so don’t expect to see everyone make it to M3GAN 2. You can check out the horror flick for yourself in theaters now.