One of 2025’s box office biggest disappointments is now a streaming hit

The year 2025 was shaping up to be a year full of after-effects. The three best-selling films at the global box office are Ne Zha 2 ($2.2 billion), Zootopia 2 ($1.7 billion), and Avatar: Fire and Ash ($1.4 billion). Even though this Blumhouse sequel was never expected to gross more than $1 billion, many expected it to be a box office success.
The aforementioned Blumhouse film is M3GAN 2.0, the continuation of the success of 2023, M3GAN. While M3GAN2.0 Strongly underperformed at the box office, it enjoyed great success on Netflix. After arriving on Netflix on January 26, M3GAN2.0 has already reached the top spot on the Top 10 streamer rankings in the United States
What went wrong with M3GAN 2.0?
M3GAN became one of Blumhouse’s greatest success stories. In the film, roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams) is forced to become the caregiver to her young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), after the death of Cady’s parents. Having trouble connecting with Cady, Gemma pairs her niece with M3GAN (Amie Donald), a powerful child-sized android designed to bond with young children. The experiment works, as Cady immediately takes a liking to M3GAN. The more time M3GAN spends with Cady, the more protective he becomes, causing the AI doll to turn to violence.
Released in January 2023, M3GAN received positive reception for its mix of horror and comedy, with many liking the way it adopted its campy tone. M3GAN The marketing campaign, which included a memorable dance on TikTok, helped the film break into mainstream pop culture. M3GAN took that popularity to a worldwide gross of $181 million, a substantial figure on a budget of just $12 million. Giving the green light to a sequel to M3GAN was obvious for the studio.
After a two-year hiatus, M3GAN2.0 released in theaters in June 2025. The sequel went to T2 route by doing M3GAN a hero in a fight against a new, more powerful AI robot, AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno). Universal and Blumhouse had high hopes for M3GAN2.0thinking it could become a summer hit. In reality, the film tanked at the box office, earning $39 million worldwide on a budget of between $15 and $25 million.
To his credit, Jason Blum, CEO of Blumhouse, admitted his failure, saying it was a mistake to turn to M3GAN2.0 into an action franchise instead of channeling what worked in the first: horror and comedy. “We always thought how powerful people’s commitment to her was,” Blum said of M3GAN 2.0 failure on The city.
What’s next for the M3GAN franchise?
Unfortunately for M3GAN fans, the franchise is going to take a break. After the disappointment of M3GAN2.0Universal removed SOULM8TE, A M3GAN spin-off, as of its release date on January 9, 2026. Universal is now shopping SOULM8TE to other distributors.
This does not mean M3GAN is officially dead. If M3GAN2.0 becomes a hit on Netflix, perhaps Universal will revisit the franchise at a later date. For now, all you have to do is enjoy the first two M3GAN movies streaming.
- Release date
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June 27, 2025
- Runtime
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120 minutes
- Director
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Gerard Johnstone
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Jenna Davis
M3GAN (voice)
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M3GAN2.0 is the latest film to achieve streaming success. Recently, a polarizing 2022 true crime film is finding success on the streaming charts.


