Blumhouse has become one of the strongest and most prolific studios in Hollywood, but their latest horror sequel, hoped to be a huge hit, disappointed at the box office with a meager $17 million global opening. The sequel followed up on one of the best Blumhouse movies, but made a number of striking changes, causing some confusion among horror fans.

Blumhouse has done a great job with making films, but in some cases has struggled with franchises. Movies like Happy Death Day were successes, but follow-ups like Happy Death Day 2U had weaker box office returns. While not among the worst Blumhouse movies, the studio has struggled with extending some series.

Fortunately, Blumhouse keeps their budgets relatively low, which allows for the occasional failure within their oeuvre. However, this latest film seemed among the most likely projects in their slate to break through. With that considered, it is worth looking back at several reasons why this horror sequel may have failed to connect with audiences.

M3GAN Was A Viral Hit That’s Hard To Replicate

The First Movie Connected In A Number Of Unique Ways

M3GAN was released in January 2023 and became a huge hit, grossing $180 million against a budget of only $12 million. The film broke through on a surprising scale, carrying only a PG-13 rating and using social media to lead it on to incredible box office success. This came from a number of different places.

Much of the film’s promotion was through social media content, which was used adeptly by the studio, but was given true life by audiences. Clips of M3GAN dancing went viral, with many co-opting the clip for their own humorous use, transforming it into natural word-of-mouth promotion. Audiences claimed M3GAN as a queer icon, and attention on the film grew enormously.

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Perhaps most surprisingly, the film was also well received, earning a shocking 93% positive rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. With the ending of M3GAN allowing for sequels, it seemed that a new franchise was born. However, it is now clear that the first film’s success is not so easy to replicate.

M3GAN 2.0’s Reviews Hurt The Movie’s Box Office – Why They Weren’t Good

The Sequel’s Reception Was Not Nearly As Strong

M3GAN 2.0 was released this past week, and the film’s reception has been much poorer. While the film still carries a good 83% score with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the critic score is a much lower 57%. Even the positive reviews themselves are much weaker, with far less enthusiasm being directed at the new film.

This is significant because enthusiasm for M3GAN as a character was an important part of the first film’s success. M3GAN 2.0 attempted to double down on the same elements that caught on previously, turning her into a less frightening and more powerful hero. This intentionally sillier style was, however, too self-aware, ignoring the first film’s delicate and successful balance.

Most importantly, M3GAN 2.0 changed the tone and genre of the franchise. While the first had many humorous moments, these were punctuated by terror and fear. The tongue-in-cheek feel of the first movie helped these moments to be appreciated both for the fear that they caused, and the campiness that undercut it.

M3GAN 2.0, meanwhile, attempts to replicate the success of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, by transforming the villain into a hero, and changing the genre to action. The comedy is still there, but it feels far more generic inside this sequel. M3GAN 2.0 loses much of the original’s appeal, and doesn’t replace it with enough that is new or interesting.

It’s Been A Mixed Year For Blumhouse

Blumhouse Was Hoping For Another Big Hit With M3GAN 2.0

Blumhouse’s 2025 slate of movies hasn’t found the greatest success, and M3GAN 2.0, given an excellent summer release date, was clearly hoped to be a big hit. While Wolf Man‘s box office was not disastrous, the film made only $34 million against a $14 million budget. With middling reviews, the monster movie has not accomplished much for the studio.

The next controversial Blumhouse movie, The Woman in the Yard, followed a similar pattern, grossing $23 million against a budget of $12 million. While both of these films may not wind up being losses for the studio, especially after streaming boosts, these are certainly not what Blumhouse had hoped for.

Fortunately, Blumhouse’s third offering this year was finally able to secure a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Christopher Landon’s Drop, however, still struggled to make a big splash at the box office, bringing in $28.5 million against an $11 million budget. This pattern looks likely to continue with M3GAN 2.0.

None of these are disasters, but they are also not the big hits Blumhouse hoped for. With movies like Five Nights at Freddy’s breaking box office records with a total gross of $297 million worldwide, the studio has hoped for greater numbers from their 2025 films. Unfortunately, M3GAN 2.0 looks to be another disappointment.

What This Means For M3GAN’s Future & Blumhouse

The Next M3GAN Film Is Already Filmed

M3GAN 2.0 could still wind up breaking even, but going beyond that will be tough. The film will face stiff compeтιтion in the coming weeks from films like Jurᴀssic World Rebirth and Superman. Overall, a final total for the film under $50 million is the most likely scenario.

With that said, it is clear that Blumhouse still hopes to build a franchise out of their M3GAN character and world. The upcoming SOULM8TE has been described as a more mature take on the universe. With M3GAN 2.0 failing at the box office, the franchise could still succeed with something very different.

Blumhouse’s future may still have more M3GAN films after M3GAN 2.0, but these projects will have to be approached very carefully. For now, the studio is hoping to expand their own franchises with The Black Phone 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. If those also fail to connect, things could look bad for Blumhouse’s future.