Doll horror film the world is going crazy for

Produced by Australian James Wan, the creepy doll film is the first movie to open to more than $30m in the first week of the new year in over a decade.

M3GAN in M3GAN directed by Gerard Johnstone. Picture: Universal Pictures

Australian horror producer James Wan’s latest creepy doll film, M3GAN, is smashing box office expectations, bringing $63 million worldwide during its opening weekend.

Box office analysts projected that that the PG-13 film, which was made on a $17 million budget, would open to $24-$28 million in North America. It overperformed by about 30 per cent, collecting $42 million stateside, and $21 million internationally.

The film, a horror-sci-fi comedy about an android babysitter gone rogue, stars Allison Williams (Girls) as an awkward robotics engineer at a toy company who invents a doll-like companion child to care for her recently orphaned niece.

It is the first film in over a decade to open to more than $US30 million in the first week of the new year, a notorious box office dead zone, after The Devil Inside earned $47 million back in 2012.

According to Universal, about 44% of M3GHAN’s audience was under 24. The trailer sparked a social media ruckus when it debuted in October. Megan, with her Olsen looks, mean girl delivery and killer dance moves, became a viral sensation: on TikTok the #M3GANDance challenge was born, and on Twitter, she became a trending topic after a feud with the verified account of 1980s monster doll Chucky.

everybody's tryna be me https://t.co/hFKPKY1AoF

— Chucky (@ChuckyIsReal) October 12, 2022

@kmo_18

#m3gandolls go on tour starting at the Chinese Theatre. #m3ganmovie#m3gan#m3gandoll#m3gandance#m3gamemes#m3gancosplay#m3gantrend

♬ original sound - Kristi

Whilst highbrow dramas are in the box office doldrums, horror films continue to thrive in cinemas. “Young moviegoers want to see them with their friends, on the big screen, for the maximum thrill, ”said film consultant David A. Gross in his Substack.

Though the hype isn’t enough to knock James Cameron’s blockbuster sequel Avatar: The Way of Water off the top of the box office charts, which dominates for the fourth week running.

Universal Pictures has reportedly already fast-tracked a sequel. Initially the film was pitched to Warner Bros, who passed in part because it had already released Wan’s sinister doll flick, Annabelle.

The film marks the first collaboration between Blumhouse Productions and James Wan’s Atomic Monster, which are in final talks to merge.

Producers James Wan and Jason Blum at the M3GAN Premiere

Behind the camera is New Zealand director Gerard Johnston, who Wan enlisted after seeing his 2014 directorial debut Housebound, which premiered at SXSW. The film, which was initially slated to be shot in Montreal, was moved to New Zealand in June 2021 so they could film relatively uninterrupted by the pandemic.