The horror-thriller M3GAN, produced by genre heavyweight James Wan, has been given a January 2023 release date. Wan shot to fame as the director and co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises, as well as achieving further success with The Conjuring movies. Most recently, Wan has achieved commercial and critical success helming the DCEU film Aquaman and its upcoming sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is currently in post-production.
Universal Pictures announced that M3GAN, which stars Allison Williams (Get Out, Girls), will release on January 13, 2023. The film is helmed by Housebound writer-director Gerard Johnstone, from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, who teamed up with Wan on the 2021 horror movie Malignant. M3GAN's screenplay is also based on a story by Wan. Jason Blum will produce under his Blumhouse Productions umbrella, along with Wan’s Atomic Monster, and in association with Divide/Conquer.
M3GAN follows a brilliant roboticist at a toy company, who uses AI to create the titular character, a life-like kids doll that begins to take on a life of her own when she enlists the help of the prototype to help her care for her nephew. In addition to Williams, the film stars Ronny Chieng (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). The movie will join the list of 2023 releases planned by Blumhouse, and, though Johnstone’s CV is sparse, the pedigree of the production team, coupled with the involvement of rising star Cooper, bodes well for the long-term success of M3GAN.