Universal breaks up with M3GAN spin-off, Soulm8te

Originally expected in theaters next month, Soulm8te will now be shopped to other studios.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  December 16, 2025 | 8:14pm
Courtesy of Blumhouse
Film News M3GAN
Universal breaks up with M3GAN spin-off, Soulm8te

Universal appears to be done playing with M3GAN. Per Variety, Soulm8te, the awkwardly titled spin-off to the yassified doll slasher series, has been pulled from Universal’s release calendar. Originally slated for a January 9 release, Soulm8te will instead be shopped to other studios in hopes of finding a new home for the erotic thriller. Soulm8te was written and directed by Katie Dolan and stars Lily Sullivan of the Evil Dead remake, but who are we kidding? The movie should be called “Soulm8,” and it was always going to have an uphill climb because it wasn’t.

It’s hardly surprising considering the challenging year that Blumhouse and, in particular, M3GAN had. M3GAN 2.0 was not the cultural touchstone the studio hoped for, receiving worse reviews and lower returns than its predecessor. The first M3GAN, released in January 2022, grossed $181 million on a $12 million budget. Though only slightly pricier at $25 million, M3GAN 2.0 only generated $39 million last summer and failed to inspire a single TikTok trend. In hindsight, Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum said that they misjudged the appeal of M3GAN, thinking that she “was like Superman” and that “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.” In reality, moviegoers wanted the baddie from the original, and not an AI-boosting superhero.

 
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