horror sequels often aim for profits over creativity, but M3GAN 2.0 is taking a bold approach, akin to Terminator 2. The film industry traditionally goes for safe sequels, but outliers like Terminator 2 and Bride of Frankenstein inspired M3GAN 2.0 to take creative risks.
The Industry’s Tendency Towards Safe Sequels
- Horror films are often produced at low budgets and can be highly profitable.
- As a result, many horror franchises opt for a lowest-common-denominator approach to rapidly producing horror sequels by assembly line.
- However, there are notable outliers who continue to advocate for horror sequels that can be creative and fresh.
For decades, it has been common practice within the industry to rely upon horror sequels for a fairly easy and reliable inflow of cash. Horror is a genre full of artistic possibilities and laced with creative potential, but it’s also an insanely resilient and profitable genre for studios to dabble in. Horror films regularly cost substantially less than projects in other genres and regularly make substantial sums of profit for their creators and distributors.
A Brief History of Horror Sequels
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was a radical departure from the original film, with a significantly increased budget and a drastic tone shift.
- James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) took the claustrophobic horror of the original and turned it into a bravado-filled action-horror blockbuster.
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) turned the antagonist of the first film into a more empathetic primary protagonist and drastically switched up the tone.
These films were all outliers in the horror genre, but they show that it is possible to create a horror sequel that is both creative and profitable.
M3GAN 2.0: A Gonzo Approach
M3GAN 2.0 is taking a highly unexpected route by turning the killer robot from an antagonist into a protagonist.
“We’re going all-in on the Terminator 2 method, wherein a successful low-budget sci-fi horror film gets a big, blockbuster action movie sequel.” – Jason Blum
This is delightful stuff and what more horror movies should be doing.
Conclusion
Horror sequels often aim for profits over creativity, but M3GAN 2.0 is taking a bold approach, akin to Terminator 2.