M3GAN Spinoff Movie Gets Surprising Update After Sequel Box Office Bomb

In 2022, the sci-fi horror film M3GAN was a massive hit ($181.8 million worldwide against a miniscule $12 million production budget), seemingly introducing audiences to a new genre icon. Unsurprisingly, Blumhouse Productions and Universal quickly moved forward with a M3GAN franchise. Not only was a direct sequel greenlit (this summer’s M3GAN 2.0), the studios planned to expand the M3GAN universe with the spinoff SOULM8TE. Unfortunately, Blumhouse was unable to replicate the success of the original M3GAN. Hampered by mixed reviews, M3GAN 2.0 was a box office bomb, bringing in only $39.1 million against a $25 million budget. That performance appears to have effectively killed the M3GAN series at Universal.

According to Deadline, Universal has made the decision to pull SOULM8TE from its release calendar. What makes this move somewhat surprising is that the film was due in theaters a little under a month from now (its release date was January 9, 2026). Universal is now going to shop SOULM8TE around to other potential distributors, though it’s unknown which studio will emerge as the spinoff’s new home.

Why Universal Pulled SOULM8TE From Its Release Date

While it’s a bit of a shock to see a film removed completely from the schedule so soon before its release date, the writing was on the wall for SOULM8TE. Universal had yet to unveil any marketing materials for the spinoff, implying some sort of delay was in order. Multiple films that are due out in January and February have received trailers and posters by this point, so the SOULM8TE promotional campaign was already behind the eight ball in this regard. Today’s news makes the lack of advertising much more understandable.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for SOULM8TE director Kate Dolan, as the film has seemingly been completed and awaiting its premiere (principal photography wrapped in November of last year). After establishing herself as a rising filmmaker with the well-received horror film You Are Not My Mother, SOULM8TE could have been Dolan’s opportunity to put herself on the map, helming a high-profile franchise spinoff under the Blumhouse banner. As disappointing as this is from a creative perspective, it’s hard to fault Universal from strictly a business perspective. Based on the response to M3GAN 2.0, this was a franchise general audiences had lost interest in, with even Jason Blum saying the studio “classically over-thought” things when developing follow-ups. Universal felt it wasn’t worth the continued investment, and the box office numbers back them up.

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If M3GAN 2.0 had worked the way Blum and Co. had intended, Universal would have happily released SOULM8TE on schedule. But the studio didn’t have much incentive to stick with after seeing how poorly M3GAN 2.0 performed. In a perfect world, this could have been Universal’s answer to The Conjuring Universe, alternating between mainline installments and spinoffs. But whereas the Conjuring movies are box office successes (even the spinoffs), M3GAN didn’t have that kind of appeal. “The M3GAN Universe” branding probably would not have been very effective trying to sell audiences on SOULM8TE.

As for where SOULM8TE could land, the best bet might be a streamer. It’s hard to see the film receiving a traditional theatrical release in the aftermath of M3GAN 2.0. If Universal decided it was better to pull the plug, there’s little reason to think a company like Paramount or Warner Bros. would be willing to pony up the theatrical distribution costs in the hopes that it catches on. These days, it’s a lot easier to get general viewers to push play at home. Plenty of box office bombs have found second life on streaming services, so maybe that’s SOULM8TE‘s path forward. In a best-case scenario, it becomes a hit on streaming and helps rehabilitate the M3GAN franchise’s image (assuming whatever connections there stay), and possible follow-ups could hit theaters once the studio knows there’s an audience for it.

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