If you liked seeing the “M3GAN” robot dancing, the cinematic universe is about to get a lot kinkier.
Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are in the works on a spinoff film to “M3GAN” called “SOULM8TE,” which is being described as an “erotic thriller” inspired by similar movies from the 1990s. We’re thinking “Cruel Intentions,” “Wild Things,” “Basic Instinct,” “Sliver,” or earlier ’80s movies like “Body Heat” or “Fatal Attraction,” but with a killer robot.
In “SOULM8TE,” a man acquires an artificially intelligent android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate.
Kate Dolan (“You Are Not My Mother”) is directing the film, and Universal has already set a release date for January 2, 2026. James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Rafael Jordan came up with the story, and Dolan co-wrote the screenplay with Jordan.
The film is produced by Atomic Monster’s James Wan (“Saw,” “Insidious,” and “The Conjuring” franchises) and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum (“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “The Black Phone,” “Halloween” franchise). The two companies together produced 2023’s box office horror hit “M3GAN,” but the companies have since merged, completing their merger at the start of this year.
A sequel to “M3GAN” is also still in the works and will open June 27, 2025, pushed back from a release in May of next year. Blumhouse on its slate also has sequels to “Five Night’s at Freddy’s” and “The Black Phone” in the works, and it also recently dated a new “Exorcist” film, this time from director Mike Flanagan after the studio ended plans to pursue multiple sequels continuing the story established in last year’s “The Exorcist: Believer.”
“SOULM8TE” is executive produced by Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Atomic Monster and by Ingrid Bisu.
