It is very difficult to transform an original film into a success these days, horror being often the only genre where new ideas can flourish. Even so, it rarely works as well as for “M3gan”. The horror / comedy of the Blumhouse arrived at the beginning of 2023 and launched this year’s box office with a blow, becoming an unexpected success for Universal Pictures. Naturally, it means a sequel. Enter “M3gan 2.0”, which should be released in theaters next weekend. The question is the following: can it repeat the success of its predecessor in more difficult conditions?

The “M3gan 2.0” of director Gerard Johnstone is currently considering a national opening weekend in the range of 23 to 32 million dollars. For the context, The first “M3gan” opened just north of $ 30 million in January 2023On the way to a global finish of $ 180 million. This made, for a while, one of the greatest original films in the pandemic era. It was particularly great for a film with a single budget of $ 12 million. Thus, an opening in a similar range prepares it for success, at least on the surface.

Part of the problem is that Brad Pitt’s Cool Pitt “F1” Also artists theaters this weekend, with an opening of $ 56 to $ 72 million in the cards. A few weeks ago, Deadline If the two films opened the opening of the dollars fork, but “F1” saw its stock increase as the release date got closer. The other thing is that Universal and Blumhouse have absolutely spent more than $ 12 million for the future. How more, exactly? This has not yet been revealed, but even if it is the amount, 36 million dollars are relatively cheap compared to summer film standards.

Even so, it is difficult to deny that competition will be a major factor here. “28 years later” arrives this weekend to come And figures to hold well. “Jurassic World Rebirth” is fast approaching in early July. It’s a crowded summer season, and it’s a key difference for Blumhouse and Universal this time.

The rest resumed two years later after M3gan became thug and embarked on a deadly outburst. It was then destroyed, and the creator of M3gan, Gemma (Allison Williams) is now a high -level author who pleads for the surveillance of the AI ​​government, while her CADY niece (MCGRAW Violet), now a teenager, rebel against the overprotective rules of Gemma. Meanwhile, the underlying technology used to create M3gan was stolen by a defense entrepreneur to create a military quality weapon known as Amelia.

“M3gan” benefited from a January release, where there is, in general, much less competition. To this end, he has made no significant competition from a new version until “Strike in the cabin” in February, with “Avatar: The Way of Water” at the top of the graphics For seven consecutive weekends before that. The rest will not get such an advantage, with “Superman”, “I know what you did last summer” and “Fantastic Four: First Steps” all arriving in July, among others.

The “M3gan 2.0” trailers have become complete “Terminator 2”, “ promising a bigger suite with a new villain. It’s not just the same thing again. This can be risky, but it could also help avoid the attitude “I have already seen it” which can lead to a drop in the consequences. Originality helped the first film to become a real cultural moment. Do not play safely can potentially help the continuation to do the same.

Much of this may not belong to Universal, which has shown real confidence by giving this film a summer release. Will the Internet go after the same way as with the first episode? Can we get another viral moment like M3gan dancing? Will Tiktok take the ball and run with it? We will see

“M3GAN 2.0” will be released in theaters on June 27, 2025.