M3GAN 2.0 hits theaters this Friday with director Gerard Johnstone back at the helm. The campy horror sequel amps up the action, shifting from scares to a summer thriller vibe.
Allison Williams and Violet McGraw return, teaming with the murderous doll to take on AMELIA—an advanced military android designed as a dark mirror to M3GAN.
Johnstone felt serious pressure to satisfy the massive fanbase after the first film’s surprising viral success. 
“She was so well loved by everyone,” Johnstone said in a recent Variety interview.
“We just wanted to make sure that we delivered a sequel that was worthy of the character and a suitable reaction to the response from the world, which was completely bonkers.”
The sequel amps up the scope, diving into global fights over artificial general intelligence (AGI), with Universal and Blumhouse supporting the bigger scale despite budget limits.
Johnstone compares the genre shift to classics like Terminator 2 and the Evil Dead series.
“I wanted it to feel like a summer blockbuster,” he explained.
“There was no trepidation on my part at all about switching up genres.”
The story adds complexity to M3GAN’s character, exploring whether she’s self-aware or just simulating empathy. Her arc teams up with Gemma and Cady against AMELIA, creating uneasy alliances and questions of trust.
AMELIA’s design draws inspiration from Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface and ended up with a Jessica Rabbit style—serving as the grungier foil to M3GAN’s adolescent vibe.
On the use of AI, Johnstone shares a wary stance.
“It’s a super tool. It can clearly do things we never thought that five years ago it would be able to do. At the same time, there is this incredible danger of making ourselves redundant.”
“People talk about uncanny valley in terms of the look of these robots – there’s kind of a weird uncanny valley thing going on as well with AI artwork.”
“I worry about people in the creative sphere losing their jobs.”
“I’m a big fan of slowing down, but at the same time, I try not to be too preachy about it, because I’m well aware that AI can make incredible gains in medical research and things like that.”
“More regulation. If I ran the world, there would just be more policy put in place and more thought put into it.”
Johnstone is next gearing up to direct Universal and Mattel’s Monster High adaptation, eyeing a subversive take on the doll franchise.
For now, fans get the ramped-up M3GAN 2.0 this Friday. Expect action thrills, tough questions about AI, and a new android to obsess over.
