The first opening weekend of January is looking to be a major success for Blumhouse's first 2023 release, M3GAN. The sci-fi horror follows Gemma (Allison Williams) as she suddenly takes guardianship of her recently orphaned eight-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). Though Gemma creates the AI doll, M3GAN, to manage the workload, terrible consequences ensue when it becomes more self-aware. M3GAN has earned critical acclaim for its stylistic killer doll concept and has performed overwhelmingly well at the box office despite competition with Avatar: The Way of Water.
Though Avatar: The Way of Water continues to break box office records (even into its fourth week of release), M3GAN produces a healthy opening weekend haul of its own. Variety reports that initial projections envisioned the James Wan-produced horror taking home between $17-20 million in the first weekend of January. However, with Friday numbers alone producing $11.7 million, M3GAN is now predicted to rake in at least $27 million this weekend, surpassing previous assessments. With the film yet to release in many international territories, it looks set to have an exceptional overall box office performance, all the more impressive considering its $12 million budget.
Why M3GAN's Box Office Performance Is So Impressive
M3GAN's box office success is impressive, but even more so when considering the context of its release. Blumhouse made the bold decision to open the film well into Avatar: The Way of Water's current domination of the box office. Even though it's now in its fourth weekend, M3GAN's $27 million collection won't be enough to match the James Cameron blockbuster's predicted minimum of $35 million as the Avatar sequel hunts down the top ten highest-grossing films of all time – recently overtaking formerly ninth-placed The Avengers. Despite this, the AI doll has made a name for herself and is currently holding her own against Cameron's major film.
M3GAN will become the first horror since 2018's Insidious: The Last Key to gross over $20 million in the first weekend of the year. This is excellent news for Blumhouse, which is scheduled to release Insidious 5 later this year. Beginning their 2023 roster with M3GAN, especially during Avatar: The Way of Water's reign, was a risky move since the January month is usually tame and is one of the weaker months in terms of the box office. But its predicted success may set the precedent for its upcoming films – two of which release this month. Sick, by the Scream screenwriter, will release on Peacock on January 13, and There's Something Wrong with the Children is in theaters on January 17.
Will M3GAN's Box Office Be Enough To Greenlight A Sequel
Speculation of the development of an M3GAN sequel started even before the film's release after its initial trailer went viral, but now its tangible box office success will only further encourage Blumhouse to form a potentially highly profitable franchise. A good example is 1988's Child's Play, which grossed $44 million at the box office. The horror franchise focused on another killer doll Chucky has spawned various spinoffs, including a 2021 TV series. M3GAN seems poised to gross far more than that if it's able to continue its highly promising start, which could see the AI doll become the Chucky of its generation.
Source: Variety