‘M3GAN 2.0' Got The Blessing Of Steven Seagal And A Selfless Kate Bush

Forbes

a day ago

She's back! M3GAN in 'M3GAN 2.0'
After M3GAN slayed at the box office in 2023, grossing $180 million worldwide against a $12 million budget, the studio greenlit a sequel. However, M3GAN 2.0, the follow-up to the science fiction horror film, is full of surprises, including a genre shift that leans towards action and humor, as well as the titular icon's evolution from an AI killer doll to a hero.
And audiences absolutely won't be expecting an homage to the martial artist-turned-action-movie-star Steven Seagal. Cady, the girl M3gan has been tasked with protecting, is a fan of his movies and studies Aikido.
"We did have to get Steven's permission," writer-director Gerard Johnstone confirms to me during a chat over Zoom. "I don't know if we sent him the script, but we absolutely did have to get permission, and he was gracious enough to give it to us. I'm well aware that he's a controversial figure, but there was something about young Steven Seagal as a presence in that era of Stallone, Van Damme, and Schwarzenegger. Here came this guy that's just completely different and so unique, and he felt like an oddity in the sort of era of those movies that I thought it was worth celebrating."
"Aristotle Athari, who plays Christian, and I bonded over Seagal when we first met and talked about the role. We talked about movies we liked, and we somehow both shared a reverence for early Seagal and the presence he exuded. When I thought about Cady coming into her own as a teenager, strengthening herself as a character, and getting into martial arts, I thought it would be very funny if Gemma took her to Aikido. It is the most peaceful, non-aggressive martial art there is. Still, it has this incredibly volatile, controversial, public spokesperson for it, so I just thought that was really interesting and funny."
Another pivotal moment in M3GAN 2.0 involves the classic Kate Bush track, "This Woman's Work." A fan of the legendary British singer, Johnstone has had designs on the song for a while.
"It was in the script, but in an earlier draft, it was another song because the situation was different and called for a different song," the filmmaker explains. "I wanted M3gan to sing This Woman's Work over the titles of the first film, but we didn't have enough time to seek out the rights. That was a fun idea I had that I didn't get to do anything with. Once I realized the context of the scene in the sequel had changed and it was about motherhood, it felt like the most natural song choice."
"I'm a massive fan of Kate Bush, and in all honesty, we shot that scene not knowing if we would get the rights; we just had to hope and pray that we did. It took a little bit of convincing, and she had to see the scene to approve it, but she did. Kate didn't take any money for it either. We gave her all we could afford, and she gave it to charity. That made me an even bigger fan."
'M3GAN 2.0' Is Influenced By An Eclectic Selection Of Classic Movies
Set two years after the first film, M3GAN's creator, Gemma, played by Allison Williams, resurrects her notorious invention to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN's underlying tech. M3GAN 2.0 is exclusively in theaters now and is not available on streaming to watch at home.
Due to the robot vs. robot storyline, numerous comparisons are being drawn with classic films from the 1980s and 1990s, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Johnstone happily confirms that it is in the mix, but some of the other inspirations might surprise people.
"Terminator 2 is the most obvious one just because two robots are going at each other. When James Wan was thinking about another robot, he was thinking T2 in some ways, and then he handed me the keys," the Housebound director confirms. "I'm a child of the 80s and 90s, so those were the films that stuck with me, and I miss those movies. I miss the crazy, bombastic, bold, and subversive popcorn movies that are massively entertaining, but they have a layer that's very offbeat. They're operating on two tracks. On one lane, it's absolutely populist entertainment, but on another, it's asking people to think about some deep things, and that's what I'm trying to do with this."
"Total Recall is in there, and I watched Short Circuit early on and examined the relationship between Johnny 5 and his human counterparts. That inspired the relationship between Cady and Megan this time around because Cady is the one who's trying to figure things out, and is M3gan real and conscious or just a bunch of zeros and ones? Robocop and Bram Stoker's Dracula were also influences, as were The City of Lost Children and Pan's Labyrinth. The creation of M3gan's lair owes a lot to those sorts of movies. They influenced everything about the film, including its visual appearance. We tried to make it look very organic, so we shot it using anamorphic lenses to make it feel like a film from those two decades."
Director Gerard Johnstone on the set of 'M3GAN 2.0.'
A common feature in the 80s and 90s action genre is the use of subtitles, such as Die Hard 2: Die Harder. It's even still used occasionally today for films such as Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. So, did M3GAN 2.0 ever have a different title, or was that always going to be the title?
"I didn't come up with the title. The title was announced before I was officially on board, so I had no part in that," Johnstone reveals. "The working title of my script was M3GAN 2: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. That was what I was always working with, but I never pushed it."
Almost as soon as the first trailer was released in 2022, M3gan became a pop culture phenomenon, and, similarly to other titans of terror such as The Babadook, she emerged as a gay icon. Whereas the original film landed in theaters in January, M3GAN 2.0 lands in June, coinciding with Pride Month and officially qualifying it as a summer blockbuster.
"I don't know if that was intentional or not, but certainly coming out in the summer is a huge responsibility," the filmmaker muses. "I don't know if which came first, the release date or the direction that we went in for the sequel, but the first film just had such a crazy, huge reaction that I thought, 'Well, let's go big on the sequel.'"
"You can never let fear be a driving factor in any of these things. You just have to do what inspires you and try to make a movie that you would want to see. First and foremost, you have to entertain yourself. That's what I enjoy doing. I like to block out the noise, let other people take care of it, and focus on telling a really fun story and having as much fun with the character as I possibly could."
(Left to right) James Wan, Gerard Johnstone and Jason Blum attend as Universal Pictures and ... More Blumhouse present the 'M3GAN 2.0' premiere at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City.
'M3GAN 2.0' Is The Start Of A New Beginning For The AI Icon
When it comes to questions regarding the franchise's genre shift and departure from the horror roots of M3GAN, Johnstone remains confident in his decision.
"Audiences have already decided she's a hero, so it felt like the path was like for us to do that. In the first film, she's more of a mystery. Even M3gan doesn't know what she is, so it felt natural and fitting," he says. "Once you take her out of the shadows and start talking about other robots, it made sense to me to go out of a world of toys, and if a technology like this exists, the only plausible thing you could do with it is bring her into the military. Suddenly, it was a much bigger canvas. It felt as though if we had stayed in horror, it would be oddly limiting. We've done all that. I don't understand why you need to repeat yourself. I understand that audiences want more of the same, but I honestly don't think they would like it. I don't think they'd be happy if you gave them the same thing. As a character, M3gan herself doesn't want to be put in a box."
Although a spin-off is already on the way, this is probably where Johnstone and M3gan part ways. Even the M3GAN 2.0 end credit sequence plays out over a montage of highlights from both films, appearing to be a bookend of sorts. Is this the end that it feels like?
"It is for me," the New Zealander confesses. "I have been on the M3GAN train since 2018 because that's when I first got the script, so it's been a long time for me. I felt like putting every idea I had and as much as I could into this movie."
The M3GAN 2.0 director concludes, "In a way, it's me saying, 'I hope you enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a break and hand this over to someone else.' She's such a fun character that there's more to do with her, and I'll always be there to support whoever you know might take up the reins."