Even though horror movies have become more popular in recent years, SOULM8TE, a spinoff of the hit 2023 horror film M3GAN, is looking to be facing quite an uphill battle when it comes to the box office, despite the fact that the first film managed to make such a splash when it was initially released.
The original M3GAN came out of nowhere to become one of the biggest new success stories in the horror genre, and a sequel, M3GAN 2.0, was quickly announced alongside a spinoff called SOULM8TE, which is going to center around a man who buys a companion robot to cope with his wife’s death.
However, now that M3GAN 2.0 has been released in theaters, the future of this series looks much more bleak than it did when M3GAN originally came out. Unfortunately, SOULM8TE could very easily fall by the wayside and become a major box office flop when it eventually releases in 2026.
SOULM8TE Is A Tough Box Office Sell After M3GAN 2.0
The Sequel’s Struggles Will Likely Carry Over To SOULM8TE
The biggest piece of news about M3GAN 2.0 is how poorly the movie is doing at the box office, which continues to be a far cry from the runaway success of the first movie. On a budget of $15-25 million, the movie has only made about $30 million back, which is a very substantial drop from the $180 million the first film made.
In order for a movie to be considered profitable, it usually has to earn back double its reported budget at the box office, in order to account for marketing and distribution costs.
The movie has only been out for a few weeks, so if it spends more time in theaters, it could rebound to become more profitable, but at this point, especially given M3GAN 2.0‘s middling reviews and word of mouth, it doesn’t seem all that likely to become a very big hit.
This is especially bad news for SOULM8TE, considering that the movie isn’t even going to have the main draw of M3GAN herself to bring people in. If the drop from the first to second film was so significant, then the chance that SOULM8TE is able to earn anything close to the original film is quite slim.
Is Blumhouse’s Sci-Fi Horror Franchise Already Over?
The Future Of M3GAN Already Looks Quite Bleak
M3GAN seemed to be a franchise destined for success after the first movie, but the fact that people already seem uninterested in the direct sequel is a pretty solid sign that the series isn’t going to be able to continue much further, and will mostly just be remembered for its great first outing.
If the spinoff manages to defy expectations and perform well, then the franchise will likely continue in some capacity, whether it is with a full M3GAN 3.0 or more spinoff media.
Of course, there is every chance that M3GAN 3.0 does happen, as there were a number of reasons that the second film is doing so poorly, which could certainly be fixed to position another sequel to perform better, but at this point, that is likely pretty dependent on how well SOULM8TE performs, and whether it can revitalize the series.
If the spinoff manages to defy expectations and perform well, then the franchise will likely continue in some capacity, whether it is with a full M3GAN 3.0 or more spin-off media, but if 2.0 is foreshadowing an even bigger decline for SOULM8TE, then this series will likely reach a premature end.
