If you were to erect a Mount Rushmore dedicated to the ongoing horror renaissance, there's a good chance that James Wan and Jason Blum's faces would both be on it. Behind the camera, James Wan has given audiences the acclaimed The Conjuring franchise, while Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions is the biggest name in horror right now with its low budget, high quality hits. These two scaremasters first joined forces for Insidious, which Jason Blum produced and James Wan directed, and now they are teaming up again to produce a new techno horror thriller titled M3GAN.
M3GAN will tell the story of a roboticist at a toy company who uses artificial intelligence to develop a life-like doll called M3GAN that is programmed to bond with her niece. The doll is programmed to protect the girl, but it winds up taking things a bit too seriously (machines never understand nuance), becoming overprotective resulting in a killer doll movie for the Alexa age. The script for the film comes from Akela Cooper, who has been a writer and producer on TV shows Luke Cage and The 100, among others. According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Wan and Jason Blum will produce M3GAN, with Gerard Johnstone on board to direct. Johnstone's previous work includes the 2014 Australian horror film Housebound.
James Wan has dealt with killer doll tales in the past with Annabelle, which was produced under his Atomic Monster Production Company, but he sees M3GAN as an opportunity to comment on the dangers of technology and over-reliance on it, a relevant topic in the modern age. But lest you think that this killer doll movie will take itself too seriously, Jason Blum noted that M3GAN will have some black humor in it, pairing cheekiness with the film's more thrilling elements.
A lot of great horror movies in recent years have been rooted in the supernatural, social or slasher sub-genres, so something like M3GAN that deals with a horrific technology while also offering a relevant message, could be really interesting. It's also encouraging to hear that this film will have humor in it. There's just something inherently silly about a killer doll, so leaning into that element and delivering intentional laughs instead of unintentional ones is probably a smart way to go. Also with Jason Blum and James Wan both involved, this will definitely be one for horror fans to keep an eye on.
M3GAN is set to begin shooting this fall. Check out our release guide for the biggest movies, horror and otherwise, coming to a theater near you in 2018, and for all the latest on why no good can ever come from buying your kids toys, keep it locked on CinemaBlend.
