TV & Beyond on 2025-07-02 16:21:13

by | Jul 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles | 0 comments

TV & Beyond on 2025-07-02 16:21:13

unexpected box office success of “Paranormal Activity” more than 15 years ago, the house that Jason Blum built has generated tons of hits, several massive franchises, and more than $6 billion at the global box office. Unfortunately, the studio has been in a bit of a slump recently and, despite seeming like a slam dunk on paper, that didn’t change with “M3GAN 2.0.”

On opening weekend, director Gerard Johnstone’s “M3GAN 2.0” opened to just $10 million domestically, which is roughly one-third of what the original film did on its way to $180 million worldwide against a $12 million budget. This one carries a $25 million budget and, though maybe not an outright flop, is going to be far from a hit. So, what the hell happened, exactly? Well, Blum has weighed in on the situation directly.

Appearing on an episode of the “Town” podcast, Blum got very honest with host Matthew Belloni about the disappointing opening for Blumhouse’s latest sequel. Blum admitted he was in a “death spiral of depression” by Monday when the final numbers had come in, which should give some sense of how rough this opening was. Speaking further, he explained that he and the other creatives behind the film got a little too confident when they started putting “M3GAN 2.0” together. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“We all thought M3GAN was like Superman. We could do anything to her. We could change genres. We could put her in the summer. We could make her look different. We could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy. And we classically over-thought how powerful people’s engagement really was with her.”

Who’s to blame for the downfall of M3GAN 2.0?

M3GAN stepping out in her tall, new body in M3GAN 2.0

Universal Pictures

Blum had reason to be confident, but he also had reason to be sick come Monday morning. Mere weeks ago, “M3GAN 2.0” had been expected to make at least $30 million in its debut. However, between stiff competition in the summer from the likes of “F1,” weaker buzz, and a combination of other factors, those projections collapsed.

“People wanted more M3GAN just like she is,” Blum added. “Every time you do a sequel, you have to ride this very fine line. Which is, if you make it too close to the first movie, everyone says, ‘You ripped off the first movie.’ And, ‘Why’d you make this movie? What a waste of time.’ And if you make it too far away from the first movie, everyone says, ‘Why the f*** is this a sequel? This has nothing to do with the first movie and we’re pissed about it.'”

Indeed, even the trailers for “M3GAN 2.0” made it clear that this a “Terminator 2” situation. The villain becomes the hero and it goes full sci-fi instead of horror. The sequel also failed to catch on with social media the way the first movie did. There was no viral TikTok moment to rival M3GAN dancing the first time around. Blum addressed that, explaining they couldn’t just manufacture that sort of thing again. He also didn’t feel the need to shift blame to the movie’s director, saying the following:

“Gerard is a terrific director … Gerard is someone who can solve almost anything you throw at him, but he needs time. He’s just one of those directors that needs a lot of time. On the first ‘M3GAN,’ he had all of the time in the world.”

Jason Blum takes the blame for Blumhouse’s failures

M3GAN in her pink suit holding up a gun in M3GAN 2.0

Universal Pictures

“The marketplace is very different, and it’s incredibly hard to get your arms around,” Blum mused, explaining that the state of the box office has changed dramatically in the aftermath of the pandemic. He pointed to the success of movies like “Sinners” and “Final Destination Bloodlines,” noting that cinematic events seem to get the job done these days. It’s much harder for low-budget, non-event pictures.

“I shoulder the blame for this, not Universal,” Blum added. Blumhouse Productions has had a longstanding relationship with Universal Pictures, with the studio handling marketing and distribution for many of the company’s films. Even so, Blum doesn’t blame it for the sequel’s downfall.

“They play a role, but we’re in this together. I’ve made plenty of movies that have gotten a 4 [percent on] Rotten Tomatoes and they don’t call me and say, ‘You messed up.’ We locked arms and they understand like I understand that the business is long term. It goes on a long time.”

Blum was very willing to acknowledge that Blumhouse was in something of a slump, with movies like “Night Swim,” “Imaginary,” “Afraid,” “Wolf Man,” “The Woman in the Yard,” and “Drop” all serving up varying types of disappointment. Fortunately, it’s got seemingly surefire bets on the calendar that include “The Black Phone 2” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.” (Recall that the first “Five Nights at Freddy’s” film made nearly $300 million worldwide.) Blum also made it clear that the company will take a good hard look at what went wrong and determine what needs to change once their emotions die down a bit:

“We really try and learn from our mistakes. But it really takes time. You have to get un-emotional about it and you have to get enough distance from the release to leave your emotions behind. That’s when we really look. We’ll have smaller meetings where we’ll discuss, and discuss, and discuss. Really dig into it.”

“M3GAN 2.0” is in theaters now.

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