M3GAN Universe Movie SOULM8TE Dropped From Universal Slate

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The first M3GAN film, released in January 2023 (and I’m sticking with the “muh-THREE-gan” pronunciation!), was a huge financial success. It was a clever concept – essentially a story about a killer doll in the style of The Terminator, but with a cute, feminine twist. Thanks to smart marketing and those unsettlingly realistic GIFs, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster had a real hit. Naturally, they wanted to build a franchise! While the recent sequel, M3GAN 2.0, didn’t perform as well, there’s still hope for SOULM8TE, the planned erotic thriller spinoff.

Honestly, I was getting excited about this movie, but it looks like we’re going to be waiting a while. It was originally scheduled for January 2026 – seriously, just a few weeks from now! – but now Deadline is saying it’s been pulled from Universal‘s schedule completely. Apparently, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster are going to try and sell it to another studio. A bit disappointing, but hopefully it still sees the light of day eventually.

SOULM8TE tells the story of a man who buys an AI android to help him deal with the grief of losing his wife. While trying to build a truly intelligent companion, he accidentally transforms a gentle robot into something dangerous and obsessive. The premise feels similar to the movie Companion, but it comes across as more obvious and less compelling.

Paramount’s decision to release its horror film, Primate, on January 9, 2026, led Universal to pull its own horror movie from that date. It’s unusual for two big studios to release competing horror films on the same day. However, the bigger question is why Universal decided to cancel the release entirely, considering the established reputations of producers Jason Blum and James Wan, even if the director, Kate Dolan, is less well-known. The film features Claudia Doumit (known from The Boys), Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise), and David Rysdahl (Alien: Earth).

Honestly, I think the biggest issue is the title. If the idea is to play on “Soulmate” with a number, it should be “Soulm8,” similar to how Avril Lavigne titled her song “Sk8er Boi.” As it currently reads, people will likely pronounce it awkwardly – either “Soulm-ATE-tea” or like “Soul Matie,” maybe even as if it’s about a pirate! We really have no idea, though, since we haven’t seen a trailer yet.

SOULM8TE will come out whenever the fuck.

Kyle Anderson is a Senior Editor at TopMob and the host of the weekly podcast, Laser Focus, where he dives deep into pop culture. He also writes film and TV reviews, and you can find him on Letterboxd.

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2025-12-17 02:33